The Cowdray Gold Cup for The British Open Polo Championship
A
Reports
Josh Hyde attacks the ball full gallop
ndrey Borodin’s Park Place burst into action from the very first seconds of The Gold Cup played on the iconic Cowdray Lawns in front of massive crowds. They held the upper hand throughout the Final against the power of Dubai; to finally clinch victory 12-9 in their first ever Gold Cup win, but the three goal margin of the final result, does not reflect the drama of the final minutes of the match. Tense does not describe it!
“The three goal margin of the final result does not reflect the drama of the final minutes of the match” Cowdray had done a great job – the place was packed, the trade village and bars were doing a roaring trade with live music and everybody enjoying the sunshine (but not too hot, despite the heatwave) and horse welfare concerns addressed with covered marquees, misters and fans; it was a stupendous display of all things good in polo. The match itself was fast but fair, with clean play and great umpiring resulting in open, flowing action. A thumbs up all round from us! On paper, Park Place were the underdogs, despite having world number one, Facundo Pieres heading up the impressive line-up. Pieres already had five Gold Cup wins to his name (for La Bamba de Areco in 2009, Zacara in 2013 and King Power Foxes in 2015, King Power in 2016 and 2017) and it goes without saying he was keen to rack up a sixth. So, it was somewhat surprisingly Park Place had endured a rocky road to the Final – in fact they were defeated by Dubai in the qualifiers 17-14 and suffered defeat at the hands of Talandracas (later beating them in the Semi Finals).
First Ever
Gold Cup Win
for Park Place
An impressive performance all round www.polotimes.co.uk
Polo Polo Times, Times, August xxxx 2022
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