Park Place Vaara vs Great Oaks LL on Sunday 12 June
Four teams entered yesterday’s Cartier Queen’s Cup Semi Finals at Guards Polo Club with the hope of securing their place in Sunday’s Final. The opening match on The Duke’s Ground was between Park Place and Great Oaks LL, who were hoping to recapture the title they took just two years ago in 2020. Great Oaks LL went into the Final with some of the strongest defence out of all the teams in the competition, which held back the intense Park Place attack to secure a 4-1 lead by half-time. Great Oaks LL slowed down in the fifth chukka, which allowed Park Place to outscore them 3-1, but it was a short-lived advantage and Great Oaks LL turned on the afterburners to secure themselves the win, with 17-year-old Cruz Heguy’s performance a standout in the match scoring six goals and named Most Valuable Player.
The second match was played on the historic Queen’s Ground between La Magdeleine and the second Borodin team, Park Place Vaara, who swiftly asserted their dominance and capitalised on the fast style of play in the opening chukka. However, Pablo MacDonough, who has performed outstandingly throughout the tournament, fought back with two goals of his own and it seemed as though back-and-forth play would be the format of this Semi Final. The low-fouling game resulted in a thrilling match and end-to-end action with Park Place Vaara scoring all their goals from open play. However, Park Place Vaara found themselves in foul trouble in the final minutes, conceding two penalty goals to MacDonough and running nearly the length of the field, MacDonough’s third goal of the chukka suddenly brought La Magdeleine within one with two minutes left on the clock. Park Place Vaara held off this late comeback to receive the Kerry Packer Trophy from Laurent Feniou and Ben Barham, Kerry Packer’s grandson, and claim their spot in Sunday’s Final against Great Oaks LL. The Final will be livestreamed by Guards TV in association with Polocam TV here.
The Cartier Queen’s Cup Semi Final Teams:
Great Oaks Les Lions (22): Dillon Bacon (0), Cruz Heguy (4), James Beim (7) & Juan Martín Nero (10)
Park Place (22): Andrey Borodin (0), William Harper (4), Facundo Pieres (10) & Francisco Elizalde (8)
Park Place Vaara (22): Joshua Hyde (0), Santos Merlos (4), Hilario Ulloa (10) & Juan Britos (8)
La Magdeleine (22): Alexandre Garese (0), Ollie Cudmore (6), Pablo MacDonough (9), Facundo Fernández Llorente (7)
Photograph: Cruz Heguy challenges Facundo Pieres.
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