Richard Mille and Talandracas won their place in the semifinals of the Queens Cup
Richard Mille 9 - 7 La Bamba De Areco
Despite the rain and cloudy conditions, this was one of the best matches to be seen at Guards Polo Club for many a year. There was not one member of the team that did not pull their weight and both patrons – Richard Mille’s Prince Jefri and La Bamba’s Jean-Francois Decaux – were as impressive as the higher handicapped players on the field. There was nothing to call between either team in the first two chukkas and even at half –time, with the scores reading 4-3 to Richard Mille, thanks to some excellent play from 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough, who had scored all of Richard Mille’s goals at this stage, most punters felt that this game could still go either way.
Several flashes of brilliance from Facundo Pieres – including some wonderful ball control that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Federer/Nadal match at Roland Garros - kept La Bamba’s hopes alive in the second half. Meanwhile, some outstanding play from Alejandro Muzzio of Richard Mille also earned plenty of applause and kept the spectators glued to their seats, ignoring the increasing rain showers. Richard Mille still had their advantage after four chukkas – 5-4 – but La Bamba went ahead in the fifth, thanks to goals from Decaux and Facundo Pieres.
So to the sixth chukka and a scoreboard saying 7-6 to La Bamba. An extra chukka seemed likely though, especially as some , some fast flowing play from the Pieres boys failed to convert to goals for La Bamba. Meanwhile, Muzzio found the equalizer and his team-mate Max Routledge – last year’s HPA Young Player of the Year – then produced an outstanding goal to give Richard Mille the advantage once more. Muzzio then scored again to ensure that it was his team which took the ticket through to the semi-final.
Talandracas 14 - 13 Dubai
This was a vocal, but exciting match, played at Zacara’s private ground. These two teams had played against each other last Sunday in their Queen’s Cup league match and Talandracas had been most impressive, winning that encounter 11-10. However they were 3-2 down at the end of this first chukka, and only got themselves back into this game thanks to some great goals from Facundo Sola, an new face to English high-goal but one we shall definitely be watching in the future. Lucas Criado and Adolfo Cambiaso had both scored for Dubai, but Rashid Albwardy’s team were 7-6 down at half-time.
Cambiaso scored two more in the fourth and this looked like the pivotal chukka of the match as Talandracas failed to score at all. Edouard Carmignac’s team kept their cool and their teamwork though – thanks to the experience of their captain, Milo Fernandez Araujo. Carmignac’s team responded with three goals in the fifth, to only two in reply from Dubai to level the score at 10-all going into the final chukka. Cambiaso showed why he is always to be feared on the big occasion – scoring three goals for Dubai – but Sola played even better, scoring four times for Talandracas, thus ensuring them a place in Wednesday’s semi-finals.
Wednesday 8 June - Harcourt Developments Queen’s Cup Semi-Finals 2011
3pm Enigma v 1870. The winner will receive the DeWitt Trophy.
5pm Talandracas v Richard Mille. The winner will receive the Hubert Perrodo Trophy.
Both these matches will be played at Guards Polo Club.
