The Queen’s Cup, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world and Guards Polo Club’s premier event, has its final already set. Following two exciting semifinal matches, Les Lions/Great Oaks and Park Place are set to decide the competition established in 1960 to honour Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, on Sunday August 23.
The day kicked off with the contest between Les Lions/Great Oaks and Thai Polo NW, who received two goals on handicap and took well advantage of it in the two first chukkas of play. But Dillon Bacon’s team made a comeback in the third chukka to earn a 5-all by half time. The two following chukkas saw Les Lions/Great Oaks leading the match, But Thai Polo NW never gave up and struggled to tie at 9-all in regulation time. This sent the match into an extra chukka, and that’s when Barto Castagnola produced a great goal to seal the deal, to give Les Lions /Great Oaks the hard fought 10-9 win and the first spot in the final.
The second semifinal, between Park Place and title holders, Scone, was a very different story. Park Place overwhelmed David Paradice’s team, who couldn’t do that much against a merciless and powerful Park Place, who had taken an impressive 5-0 lead in the second chukka. For Andrey Borodin and his boys, it was almost a walk in the park – their display of powerful poloand well balanced team play in addition combined with the skills of the two Pieres brothers, Gonzalito and Facundo, were crucial to achieve a 14-8 victory and the ticket to the championship match.
Les Lions/Great Oaks and Park Place will meet on The Queen’s Ground on Sunday August 23, at 3pm.
THE SUMMARY OF THE SEMIFINALS
- LES LIONS/GREAT OAKS 10-9 THAI POLO NW (in extra chukka)
LES LIONS/GREAT OAKS: Dillon Bacon 2, Camilo Castagnola 7 (7 goals), Bartolomé Castagnola Jr. 8 (2), Santiago Laborde 6 (1).
THAI POLO NW: Ned Hine 3 (1), Miguel del Carril 6 (1), Jack Richardson 6 (2), Tomás Beresford 6 (3).
Score Les Lions/Great Oaks: (0-2) 2-5, 3-5, 5-5, 7-5, 8-7, 9-9. 10-9.
- PARK PLACE 14-8 SCONE
PARK PLACE: Andrey Borodin 0 (2), Will Harper 3 (4), Gonzalo Pieres Jr. 9 (3), Facundo Pieres 10 (5).
SCONE: David Paradice 0 (1), Ollie Cudmore 6 (1), Nicolás Pieres 9 (6), James Harper 7 (2).
Score Park Place: 3-0, 5-0, 7-3, 9-5, 11-5, 14-8.
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