The Cartier Queen’s Cup final at Guards Polo Club on Saturday 11 June was a game of two halves, played in pouring rain at Windsor Great Park. Dubai beat La Indiana 12-11, and the winning goal from Adolfo Cambiaso came in the last 10 seconds.
The semi-finals
La Indiana, Michael Bickford’s team making their first final in the cup, had upset the holders King Power Foxes 13-12 in their semi-final. King Power scored four in the first chukker and La Indiana replied through Nic Roldan and Agustín Merlos, with Merlos converting the penalty that won it. Julián de Lusarreta, in his first Guards season, was in the right place throughout.
Dubai beat Zacara 16-12 in the other semi-final, with Cambiaso scoring 12 of his side’s goals. Zacara were without their young English player Jack Hyde, who had hurt his hand in a practice match.
The final
Dubai (Kian Hall, Rashid Albwardy, Adolfo Cambiaso and Juan Martín Nero) came out in a blaze, putting four goals past La Indiana in the first chukker, and led 9-4 at half-time. La Indiana were transformed afterwards. Merlos scored twice in the next chukker, Roldan and de Lusarreta each scored one, and Dubai failed to score in the fourth, leaving the gap at a single goal.
Dubai added two more in the fifth and Roldan replied, leaving it 11-9 to Dubai at the end of that period. In the last chukker Merlos cut the lead to one and then de Lusarreta scored what was described as the goal of the tournament, a solo run with just over a minute left, to level at 11-11. With extra time looming, Cambiaso scooped the ball from a crowd of players and scored from it in the last 10 seconds.
- Most valuable player: Julián de Lusarreta, despite being on the losing team.
- Best playing pony: Volcan, owned and bred by Bautista Heguy and ridden by de Lusarreta.
It was a sixth Queen’s Cup for the Dubai team and Cambiaso’s ninth personally, extending his record in the competition. For La Indiana it was agonising, but a first final at this level and the individual awards for de Lusarreta show how far they have come in a short space of time.
Sources: Guards Polo Club, Polo People Places, POLO Magazine
