Mon 15th Jun 2015Double win for King Power teams in The Cartier Queen’s CupFinals end in dramatic seventh chukkas Finals’ day at Guards Polo Club turned out to be a family affair for the Srivaddhanaprabha brothers. In the Subsidiary Final of The Cartier Queen’s Cup, up until the sixth chukka King Power were proving a force to be reckoned with, but Salkeld made a last minute comeback to tie the scores 10-10, and pushed the game into a seventh chukka. However, Apichet ‘Tal’ Srivaddhanaprabha scored the winning goal in the seventh chukka, and secured victory for his King Power team in The Queen’s Cup Subsidiary Final, much to the delight of the crowd. Later in the day, there was controversy in the Final of The Cartier Queen’s Cup, over Cambiaso and his fitness to play, with whisperings in the pony lines that he would not make an appearance, despite still being listed on the morning team sheets. It seemed even King Power Foxes were kept in the dark – when Pablo MacDonough rode onto the ground as a substitute for Cambiaso, the King Power Foxes team cantered off The Queen’s Ground to rearrange their pony lists. The first chukka looked much like the Subsidiary Final, as King Power Foxes took the lead 3-2. However, in chukkas two, three and four MacDonough turned up the heat and took the lead for Dubai with the scores reading 4-3, 6-4 and 7-5 respectively. Yet by the fifth chukka, King Power Foxes had reached a turning point, and reversed the lead to 9-8 in their favour. The sixth chukka was fast, furious and frantic as both teams really had to fight to score, and the match continued to be closely contested. As the final chukka came to a close the score remained 10-10, but a whistle and a penalty for Dubai had the stands waiting with baited breath. MacDonough had nearly three quarters of the field to run and a pack of defensive King Power Foxes players to navigate to finish the game. The 10 goaler got close to the goal but the clock stopped him from scoring and the match went to extra time. MacDonough again tried to break away, but the Pieres brothers overpowered him to score the winning goal and finish the game 11-10 in favour of King Power Foxes. Her Majesty The Queen and Cartier’s Arnaud Bamberger presented the prizes to all of the Finalists. Hugo Lewis, who played for King Power Foxes in the Final, drew a huge cheer from the crowd when he was called up to collect his prize. The young English player started his polo career with The Pony Club, and later played at Kirtlington Park Polo Club and Cirencester Park Polo Club before being selected by King Power for the 2015 season. However, the King Power team won’t have long to celebrate before it’s full steam ahead for their first game of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup. King Power will play Thai Polo on Wednesday 24 June and King Power Foxes will play La Indiana on Thursday 25 June. For a second year in a row Facundo Pieres was named Most Valuable Player and his 10-year-old mare Cube, whom he played in the fifth chukka, was awarded the Cartier Best Playing Pony Award. Click here to see all the results from the tournament. A full report on the tournament will feature in the forthcoming July issue. The Cartier Queen’s Cup Final King Power Foxes Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha (1) Hugo Lewis (1) Gonzalito Pieres (10) Facundo Pieres (10) Dubai Rashid Albwardy (2) Martin Valent (4) Alejo Ortiz de Tarenco Stirling (6) Pablo MacDonough (10) The Cartier Queen’s Cup Subsidiary Final King Power Apichet ‘Tal’ Srivaddhanaprabha (0) Alejandro Muzzio (7) Marcos di Paola (8) Guillermo Willington (7) Salkeld Nick Clarke (1) Juan Gris Zavaleta (7) Joaquin Pittaluga (7) Luke Tomlinson (7) Photograph: King Power Foxes with Cartier’s Arnaud Bamberger and The Queen. By © www.imagesofpolo.com |