After several matches held through Monday May 25 and Wednesday May 27, the Queen’s Cup, Guards Polo Club’s premier tournament, saw wins by White Crane, Cibao La Pampa Murus Sanctus, Black Bears. Dubai, Park Place and Balanz Capital La Hechicera. The competition hosted by the club set in Windsor Great Park sees nineteen teams up to 22 goals, in participation.
This is the summary of the three latest days of action:
- MONDAY MAY 25
White Crane 13-10 Signet Segavas
Both teams aimed to search a very important first win, in a really tough game. Although things were quite leveled in the first two chukkas, White Crane took off in the third, but they had to fight hard against a determiuned Signet Segavas foursome, mostly in the last part of the match, when Tommy Beresford and Matt Perry delivered a remarkable performance. The scores were leveled in the fourth chukka, when Tommy Severn converted two penalties to tie at 7-all, but Perry came back to help White Crane to re-take the lead. White Crane, then continued their attack, and cosed the fifth chukka 12-9 up. Signet Segavas did their best in the last chukka to overcome the result, but the deal was said and done when Polito Pieres converted a penalty 3, with just a minute left in the clock to secure the 13-10 victory.
Cibao La Pampa/Murus Sanctus 12-11 Jehangiri Polo
In their second match of the Queen’s Cup, Cibao La Pampa/Murus Sanctus went head-to-head against Jehangiri, who were in top form to remain in the lead or level until the last minute of the sixth chukka. Cibao La Pampa managed to earn an advantage for a few seconds in the last chukka, but Rosendo Torreguitar leveled the scores, which forced this fantastic match into an extra chukka. But seemed that a golden goal would never come – it was a tough battle, indeed. Many thought of a potential second extra chukka, but the deal was said and done when Paco de Narvaez picked up a pass from Carlos Ulloa a run to the goalposts to find the flags and give Cibao La Pampa/Murus Sanctus their first win.
- TUESDAY MAY 26
Black Bears 13-12 Jindal Steel La Dolfina
Guy Schwarzenbach’s Black Bears retained their unbeaten status in the Queen’s Cup, after their second win against Jindal Steel/La Dolfina, who aimed for that very much needed first victory. The Bears had a strong start, led by the powerful Panelo brothers, Tomás and Benjamin. It’s worth to said that Black Bears was also helped by a handful of fouls from Jindal Steel/La Dolfina, which allowed them to build an impressive 8-3 lead by half time. But Jindal Steel/La Dolfina came back stronger in the second half. Many attempts to score went wide, but at the end of the day, Rufino Merlos, Adolfo Cambiaso and Gonzalo Ferrari managed to reduce the gap. Black Bears did their thing, too, and at the end of the fifth they had a 11-9 lead; but it was not anyone’s game, yet. In the sixth, Gonzalo Ferrari closed the gap to one goal and Adolfo Cambiaso leveled the scores, until a Penalty 2 awarded to Jindal Steel/La Dolfina put them in the lead for the first time. But Benjamin Panelo converted a Penalty 2 to tie at 12-all, and with only 30 seconds in the clock, another Penalty 2 was awarded to Black Bears; it was Benjamin again who helped Black Bears to remain in the winning path.
Dubai 9-7 UAE
The Prince’s Ground hosted the derby of the Middle East, Dubai vs. UAE, a match that was a complete different affair. First, there were some lineup changes in UAE – Juan Martín Nero had to return to Argentina upon the passing of his father and he was subbed in by Gonzalito Pieres. As Gonzalito plays off 7-goals, 2-goaler Hazel Jackson filled in for HH Sheikha Maitha to bring the team back to 22 goals. Santos Merlos opened the scores for Dubai in the first chukka, which widened to 4-2 by half time. In the meantime, UAE’s Lukin Monteverde worked hard for his team, even closing the gap to 7-8 in the final minutes in regulation time. Could it be another extra chukka? Definetly no, because Lucas Criado Jr. and Barto Castagnola had another ideas in mind. Barto picked a great pass from Lucas to fire through the winner. It’s worth to notice that Dubai is the first team that earned three consecutive wins in this year’s competition.
- WEDNESDAY MAY 27
Park Place 16-7 Shoreline
Park Place – with Leo Stuart in place of Andrey Borodin – played a remarkable match against Shoreline, by displaying a fantastic team play to remain unbeaten. Athough Shoreline had strong games, they were much in need for a first win – as a matter of fact they opened the scores. But Park Plce pulled ahead, led by the brilliant Hilario Ulloa, very well backed up by his team mates, especially ouis Hine. Some mistakes by Shoreline, awarded penalties to Park Place, and by half time they were 6-4 up. The second half belonged to Park Place – and although Rufino Bensadon had some flashes of brilliance to help Shoreline, this was completely Park Place’s affair, who claimed and impressive 16-7 win.
Balanz Capital La Hechicera 16-10 Akasha
In the clash of the undefeated, Balanz Capital La Hechicera and Akasha closed the day. Akasha had a stronger start, by leading the two first chukkas (3-2 and 5-4), led by Pablo McDonough and Santiago Laborde. But Balanz Capital La Hechicera made a comeback in the third – Lorenzo Chavanne and Jeta Castagnola produced magnificient goals to put their team in the lead (9-6) by half time. And like it happened with Park Place in the previous contest, Claudio Porcel’s lineup took off in the second half, however Akashd were never too far away, thanks to Pablo MacDonough’s skills. But in the two final chukkas, Claudio Porcel, Lorenzo Chavanne and Jeta Castagnola produced enough goals to secure Balanz Capital a comfortable 16-10 win. And something worth to notice is that Balanz Capital La Hechicera must be at the top of their game to counteract the fab duo made of Lorenzo and Jeta.
The Queen’s Cup will be back through Friday May 29 and Sunday May 31, with the following order of play:
- Friday May 29
11,30am: Aureus vs. Cibao La Pampa Murus Sanctus
2pm: Gaston vs. White Crane
4,30pm: Signet Segavas vs. La Dolfina Marqués de Riscal
- Saturday May 30
11am: Ferne Park vs. Black Bears
3pm: Ojo Caliente vs. Jindal Steel La Dolfina
4pm: Kazak vs. Dubai
- Sunday May 31
12pm: Park Place vs. Balanz Capital La Hechicera
3pm: Shoreline vs. Sujan Indian Tigers
The Queen’s Cup was established in 1960, in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8 2022. Her Majesty was not only the longest serving monarch of Great Britain (February 1952-September 2022), but also the second longest in history, behind His Majesty Louis XIV, known as Le Roi Soleil (The Sun King), who ruled France during 72 years (1643 to 1715). Queen Elizabeth II was suceeded by her son, His Majesty King Charles III, who is also the current President of Guards Polo Club, a position he inherited from his father, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who founded the club on January 25 1955 and remained as the President until his passing, on April 9, 2021.
THE FINAL OF THE QUEEN’S CUP WILL BE PLAYED ON SUNDAY JUNE 14.
The Queen’s Cup – Teams & Fixture
Cover photo by The Art Of Polo.