Wins for Great Oaks LL, UAE Polo, Vikings & Park Place
The Cartier Queen’s Cup is well underway at Guards Polo Club, with a weekend packed full of thrilling high goal action. Day four of the tournament, Saturday 5 June, began with a fast-paced match between Dillon Bacon’s Great Oaks LL and the Carmignac family’s Talandracas team, with Max Voelker once again playing in the place of Edouard Carmignac. Although Great Oaks LL appeared to hold the upper hand throughout the match, Talandracas fought back with an impressive four goals in the final chukka, pushing the match into extra-time; both sides failed to capitalise on early opportunities, and in the end it was Great Oaks LL’s Guillermo Terrera who sealed the 12-11 victory.
The second match of the day was between UAE Polo and Emlor and was UAE Polo’s first match of the 2021 Cartier Queen’s Cup. This was Emlor’s second battle in the tournament and they were certainly aiming to build on their earlier 15-6 loss against defending champions Great Oaks LL on Tuesday 1 June. Cata Lavinia played in place of HH Sheika Maitha, but this didn’t hamper UAE Polo’s performance and by half-time they held a healthy 9-3 lead. Emlor rallied in the second half, but it was not enough to recoup their earlier losses and UAE Polo ran out the winners 14-8, securing with it The Royal Windsor Horse Show Cup, presented by the show chairman Mr Colin Brooks, and traditionally played for on the first Cartier Queen’s Cup weekend.Sunday 6 June, day five of the competition, saw two more matches. The first match saw Siri Evjemo-Nysveen’s Vikings team get off to a confident start to their 2021 Cartier Queen’s Cup, defeating Schockemöhle 14-5 at Black Bears, with Schockemöhle held entirely scoreless in the fourth and fifth chukkas. The second match of the day was a competitive and dramatic match between Park Place and King Power, which ended up going to an eighth chukka with widened goals, a rarity in high goal polo! Spectators were treated to a thrilling spectacle between two of the largest organisations competing this year as Park Place and King Power matched one another on goal scoring, player performance and pony power.
With a ten goal player apiece, this was never going to be a dull match, with Facundo Pieres firing home nine goals for Park Place by the end of the sixth chukka and King Power’s Hilario Ulloa securing seven goals up until extra time. Both Ulloa and Pieres missed opportunities to score in the eighth chukka, with Pieres eventually finding the (widened) posts after four minutes of play. This winning goal was Pieres’ 18th goal of the tournament, making him currently the top scorer of the tournament. The action continues today with BP Polo vs White Crane and Monterosso vs Scone Polo.
Photograph: Facundo Pieres scored the winning goal for Park Place in an eighth chukka, with widened goals.
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