Thu 14th Jun 2018The Cartier Queen’s Cup Semi Finals Park Place and La Indiana Through to the Final
On Wednesday 13 June as Guards Polo Club bathed in sunshine, four teams battled it out for the coveted two spots in The Cartier Queen’s Cup Final. First onto The Duke’s Ground were Andrey Borodin’s Park Place against their rivals, and match favourites, Valiente. From the first throw-in, it was clear Park Place had winning on their agenda, as The Queen’s Cup top scorer thus far, Juan Britos, fired four quick-fire goals and undertook some breath-taking runs upfield. Andrey Borodin’s side have prided themselves on their teamwork throughout this competition and yesterday’s play was no different. Each player was in the right place at the right time, perfectly executing practiced plays and taking advantage of Valiente’s disjointed action. Rob Jornayvaz’s team struggled to find their form and didn’t take the lead once in the match. At half-time the score rested at 7-5 in Park Place’s favour, with tension across both teams becoming apparent in the second half as Valiente fought to close the gap between the two teams. Hugo Lewis seemed to find his groove in the fifth chukka, fighting off four key plays from the Park Place boys, but as the final bell sounded, Park Place had taken The Hubert Perrodo Trophy with a final 11-9 score and with it a place in The Cartier Queen’s Cup Final. Hilario Ulloa’s seven-year-old stallion Minchatos Mesquite was presented with the Best Playing Pony rug after two outstanding periods in the third and sixth chukkas. Following the excitement of the first match, La Indiana took to The Queen’s Ground against Jean-François Decaux’s La Bamba de Areco in a match that proved to be a one-sided, uphill struggle for La Bamba. Although Juan Martín Nero produced a series of, unfortunately goaless, fast runs downfield, the expert pairing of Facundo Pieres at number three and Nic Roldan, acting a quick-fire striker for La Indiana, was unsurmountable. Despite David ‘Pelon’ Stirling’s five goals, it just wasn’t enough to counteract Pieres and Roldan’s six goals in the final two chukkas. This outstanding performance, with the final score at 13-6, earned Michael Bickford’s side the final spot in The Cartier Queen’s Cup Final against rivals Park Place on Sunday at 3pm. The Final will be shown live on the Guards website here and a full report will feature in the July issue of Polo Times. Not a subscriber? Click here to remedy that! The Cartier Queen’s Cup Semi Final Teams: Valiente (22): Robert Jornayvaz (1), Christian ‘Magoo’ Laprida (7), Adolfo Cambiaso (10) & Hugo Lewis (4) La Indiana (22): Alec White (4), Nic Roldan (7), Facundo Pieres (10) & Michael Bickford (1) Park Place (22): Juan Britos (7), Tommy Beresford (5), Andrey Borodin (0) & Hilario Ulloa (10) La Bamba de Areco (22): Byron Watson (3), Juan Martín Nero (10), Jean-François Decaux (0) & David ‘Pelon’ Stirling (9) Photograph: Tommy Beresford and Christian ‘Magoo’ Laprida battled for the line in their Cartier Queen’s Cup Semi Final. By ©www.imagesofpolo.com
 | 
Contact us 
Tue 23rd Apr 2024
Mon 22nd Apr 2024
Fri 19th Apr 2024
Wed 17th Apr 2024
Mon 15th Apr 2024
Thu 11th Apr 2024
Wed 10th Apr 2024
Tue 9th Apr 2024
Mon 8th Apr 2024
Wed 3rd Apr 2024
Tue 2nd Apr 2024
Mon 1st Apr 2024
Tue 26th Mar 2024
Mon 25th Mar 2024
