Saturday July 11 saw the first day of the quarter finals of the At. Regis Cowdray Gold Cup, that took place at the historical Cowdray Park Polo Club, in Midhurst, West Sussex, in England.
Dubai and La Dolfina Marqués de Riscal opened fire. It’s worth remembering that the former reached the quarter finals unbeaten while the latter acceded to the last spot in quarters through a penalty shootout.
The powerful Middle East-based lineup dominated the match and the scoreboard; with the exception of the second chukka, that ended tied at 3-all, the match belonged to Tariq Albwardy & Co, while La Dolfina Marqués de Riscal – with Dillon Bacon and Lucas Criado Jr. subbing in for Alejandro Aznar and Simón Prado, respectively – struggled to stay in the game. By half time, Dubai had a commanding 6-3 lead which widened to 10-3 in the fourth. The deal was said and done in the fifth chukka when Dubai were 11-6 up, that secured Dubai’s victory, as a scoreless sixth chukka would follow.
The second quarter final, between Ferne Park and Sujan Indian Tigers was a very different story. The Tigers were the dominant force throughout most of the contest, reaching a commanding 4-2 advantage by half time. But after a 7-4 lead in the fourth for Jaisal Singh’s foursome, Ferne Park – with Vere Harmsworth and Javier Guerrero Jr. filling in for Jonathan Rothermere and Chris Mackenzie – bounced back in the last two chukkas. They closed the gap to two in the fifth (6-8) until they tied 8-8 in regulation time, to force an extra chukka. And that was when a foul awarded to Ferne Park ended up in a penalty, that was successfully converted by Facundo Pieres to secure the 9-8 win and the second spot in semifinals.
The second semifinal matchup will be revealed after the two last quarter final games, on Sunday July 12:
Black Bears vs Gaston
La Hechicera vs Akasha
Source: PoloHUB Read More