Action continues today!
The Quarter Finals of The King Power Gold cup took place on Saturday 18 July at Cowdray Park Polo Club.The first match of the day saw Les lions/Great Oaks secure their place in the Semi Finals with a narrow 11-10 win against Thai Polo NW. Thai Polo NW got off to an early lead, creating a consistent offense from the penalty line, with Juan Martin Zubia starting with a three for three penalty conversion. However, in a match determined by the smallest of margins, Thai Polo NW converted only one of their final four penalty attempts, which saw them lose in overtime. Camilo ‘Jeta’ Castagnola, in only his second match of the tournament after being side-lined by injury, led the scoring for Les Lions/Great Oaks with an impressive eight goals.
The second Quarter Final was between Next Generation and Scone. Scone had a slow start and Next Generation pounced on the opportunity to storm ahead and dominated possession, which by half-time meant they held a commanding 8-3 lead. After some half-time team chats, Scone came out determined to gain some momentum and they doubled their goal total, with the teamwork between Harper and Pieres resulting in a goal deficit of just two. Yet, the mighty Adolfo Cambiaso resumed control with two penalty shots and at the start of the sixth chukka Cambiaso secured back to back goals, which sent Next Generation into the Semi Finals with a 13-10 victory.
The win also secured Next Generation the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Memorial Trophy.The action continues on Wednesday 22 July with the Semi Finals: Next Generation vs Park Place Vaara (12pm) and Les Lions/Great Oaks vs Park Place (4pm)
King Power Gold Cup Semi Final Teams:
Park Place Vaara (22): Zac Beim (1), Will Harper (3), Juan Britos (8) & Hilario Ulloa (10)
Next Generation (22): Jean-François Decaux (0), David ‘Pelón’ Stirling (9) Adolfo Cambiaso Jnr (3) & Adolfo Cambiaso (10)
Park Place (22): Andrey Borodin (0), Kian Hall (3), Gonzalito Pieres (9) & Facundo Pieres (10)
Les Lions/Great Oaks (22): Camilo ‘Jeta’ Castagnola/Alejandro Muzzio (7), Dillon Bacon (2), Barto Castagnola (7) & Santiago Laborde (6)
Photograph: Next Generation secured themselves a place in Wednesday’s Semi Finals. By Mark Beaumont