Mon 18th Jul 2016King Power Foxes Retain Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold CupBritish High Goal Season Closes with an Incredible Game
The powerhouse of Pieres brothers Facundo and Gonzalito stormed around the ground at Cowdray Park Polo Club to claim a two-time win for King Power Foxes of The Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup for the British Open on Sunday 17 July. It was a glorious high summer day with thousands of spectators turning up to enjoy the last battle of the British high goal season between crowd favourites La Indiana and last year’s winners King Power Foxes. La Indiana have so far reached three out of three Finals (Trippets Challenge, Cartier Queen’s Cup and The Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup), an incredible feat for a team in their first full season of playing the British 22 goal, which has won them the hearts of the polo community, but they were simply out horsed in the last two chukkas of this years Gold Cup. The Pieres duo kept their tactics simple, as with all of their games leading up to the Final, run, and run very fast for the first three chukkas to cunningly tire out the opposition. The plan worked. The only minor deviation were the number of goals that the blue shirts missed. It wasn’t just about horsepower; skill and teamwork had a huge part to play. Whilst La Indiana are a coherent foursome that work well together, the pressure on the pitch as Facundo circled round them to score again and again meant the cracks began to show. By half-time the score was 5-5 and umpires Julian Appleby and Jason Dixon had hardly blown a foul at all for either side, which meant the chukkas were short, fast and to the point. The fourth chukka was a fruitless battle with both teams missing the goal, but it was the fifth chukka that was the undoing of La Indiana as King Power Foxes scored two important goals to edge forward 7-5 as La Indiana’s pony power began to wain. The last chukka was a similar story as the Pieres powered on to finish the game 9-5. Facundo Pieres had a special day winning the Best Playing Pony prize for Sarmiento, a bay gelding owned by Marcos di Paola, which he played in the second and fifth chukka. He was also named Most Valuable Player. Immortalising the victory of the 2016 Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup, the winners each received one of four engraved Reverso Grande Taille watches that were presented to the winning team by Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Daniel Riedo. The watches were personalised with the date of the tournament and the outline of the revered Gold Cup trophy. The engraved Reverso watches encapsulate the longstanding relationship of the Grande Maison and Cowdray Park Polo Club. A full report on the Final will be in the August issue of Polo Times. Photograph: Most Valuable Player Facundo Pieres plucking the ball out of the air whilst Julian de Lusarreta watches on. By ©www.imagesofpolo.com | | Other top stories Tue 23rd Apr 2024 Second 2024 WPL Win for Park Place The WPL Triple Crown of Polo
Mon 22nd Apr 2024 La Dolfina Win US Open Polo Championship 10-7 win against Valiente in Final
Fri 19th Apr 2024 La Dolfina & Valiente Reach US Open Final Cambiasos will do battle once again
Wed 17th Apr 2024 Polo Times April Issue Out Now This issue packed with insights, reports & features
Mon 15th Apr 2024 US Open Polo Championship Semi Finalists Last spot being decided today
Thu 11th Apr 2024 Synergy Clothing Lift Thai Autumn Cup Narrow 8-7 win in Final
Wed 10th Apr 2024 Free Pony Changes During Extreme Heat UK Rule Change
Tue 9th Apr 2024 2024 English High Goal Teams 22 teams will take part in this season
Mon 8th Apr 2024 US Open Polo Championship Update Today’s action between Dutta Corp vs Valiente
Wed 3rd Apr 2024 Milly Hine & Mia Cambiaso Reach 9 Goals in US U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship winner & finalist recognised
Tue 2nd Apr 2024 WPL Palm Beach Open Finalists Travieso vs Casablanca on Sunday 7 April
Mon 1st Apr 2024 US Open Polo Championship Sunday Results Wins for La Dolfina & Dutta Corp
Tue 26th Mar 2024 The U.S. Open Polo Championship Fixture & Teams Tournament begins on Wednesday 27 March
|