Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup

TALACREST PRINCE OF WALES’S CHAMPIONSHIP CUP PARK PLACE DRIVES INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS

IMAGES: IMAGES OF POLO

SUNDAY 22ND AUGUST 2021 TALACREST PRINCE OF WALES’S CHAMPIONSHIP CUP

TEAMS PARK PLACE, MONTEROSSO BARDON POLO TEAM, UAE POLO TEAM

Park Place made history at Guards Polo Club in late August. Andrey Borodin’s squad is the first team to win the impressive, 22-goal Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup. Although Alessandro Bazzoni’s Monterosso team made Park Place work hard for this victory, keeping themselves in contention until the final bell.

There was little between these two sides for much of the match, with both teams producing strong defensive play which kept the goal judges idle. Park Place had a narrow 3-1 lead at half-time but the players, and the packed grandstands, knew that this advantage was on a knife-edge and could change at any time. There had only been a goal between these two sides when they met in the league stages of the Club’s newest tournament, again in favour of Park Place (9-8).

In the fifth chukka Facundo Pieres turned up the heat a little, making the most of some space to push Park Place ahead 4-3. When he had the chance to successfully convert a penalty many wondered if this was the moment that Park Place would now run away with the match. Monterosso’s Ignacio Toccalino had other ideas though. He successfully converted a penalty to put Monterosso back in contention. Facundo Sola then had two chances for Monterosso in the sixth but sent them wide and as nobody else had a shot at goal in this final period the score remained stuck at 5-4, confirming Park Place’s victory.

John Collins, the founder of Talacrest and sponsor of this new high-goal tournament, produced some amazing prizes for all players – and match officials – on finals day, including Cartier watches for the winners. Juan Britos was named Talacrest Most Valuable Player while Machitos Puccini, owned by Monterosso and played by Facundo Sola, was named the Talacrest Best Playing Pony. This seven-year-old, bay mare is one of Sola’s favourites.

Appropriately for a title sponsor who is the world’s most experienced classic Ferrari dealer, having sold in excess of about 1,750 Ferraris to the value of more than $1billion, the teams were not introduced on the field on horseback but from an impressive array of Ferrari. A former high-goal polo patron himself, John Collins said when on signing this new partnership: “I have been involved with polo at Guards

Polo Club for more than 30 years and so am thrilled to be able to support the Club in this high-goal competition. I know from fi rst-hand experience of playing high-goal at Guards that the opportunity for players to compete at the highest level on the best grounds is invaluable.”

Five teams entered this fi rst edition of the Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup, with each team playing the others over the previous three weeks. So both teams in the sub fi nal for the Talacrest Trophy, Sheikha Maitha’s UAE Polo Team and Andras Tombor’s Bardon, had met before. In that fi rst encounter the UAE team had comfortably won 13-8. So Bardon, playing in their fi rst 22-goal tournament, came to this game having done their homework and dominated the fi rst half. Matias Machado, who was later named the Talacrest Trophy Most Valuable Player was outstanding in the first half, putting Bardon comfortably ahead 7-2.

UAE Polo Team, no stranger to the big occasion, closed the gap in the second half, forcing this match into extra time. This was the fi rst time in the entire tournament that overtime had to be played. Bardon were awarded a penalty early into the extra time which Fran Elizalde converted to win the match 10-9. ✸

TEAMS

Park Place: Andrey Borodin (0); Will Harper (4); Juan Britos (8); Facundo Pieres (10). Monterosso: Alessandro Bazzoni (1); Matt Perry (5); Ignacio Toccalino (8); Facundo Sola (8). Bardon Polo Team: Andras Tombor (0); Fran Elizalde (8); Alfredo Bigatti (8); Matias Machado (6). UAE Polo Team: HH Sheikha Maitha Al Maktoum (0); Lucas Monteverde Jnr (5); Bartolome Castagnola Jnr (9); Alfredo Capella (8).