Ben Soleimani’s RH Polo won the 2017 Cartier Queen’s Cup at Guards Polo Club, beating La Indiana by a single goal after a final that had changed hands twice. Adolfo Cambiaso scored the winner on the bell in the sixth chukka, and the cup was presented by Her Majesty The Queen.
The line-ups
- RH Polo: Ben Soleimani (0), Tomas Beresford (4), Rodrigo de Andrade (8), Adolfo Cambiaso (10)
- La Indiana: Michael Bickford (1), Nic Roldan (7), AgustÃn Merlos (8), Luke Tomlinson (6)
How it was won
RH Polo controlled the first half and led 6-3 at the interval. La Indiana, who had been creating chances without finishing them, found their range in the fourth chukka. Merlos and Roldan scored five goals in as many minutes, putting La Indiana ahead 8-7 for the first time. Merlos was superb throughout, and La Indiana started the sixth chukka 9-8 up, with de Andrade doing his best to keep RH Polo in touch.
Neither side scored in the early part of the sixth, and a sudden-death seventh began to look likely. Then Beresford levelled with a 30-yard penalty. Cambiaso rode over the ball near goal and sent a shot wide, but a moment later he sent the winner through on the bell. It may well have been his tenth Queen’s Cup win.
The awards
Tommy Beresford, the youngest player on the field, took the Most Valuable Player prize. He had turned 21 only a couple of weeks earlier, and his great-uncle, Lord Patrick Beresford, was watching from the Royal Box alongside The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. Cambiaso received the Cartier Best Playing Pony award for the 12-year-old chestnut mare Caraquenia, whom he rode in the third chukka. Ten high-goal teams entered this year’s competition, and the polo was fast and flowing in scorching heat, with the umpires’ whistles kept to a minimum.
The Cartier Trophy
In the earlier subsidiary final, Top Srivaddhanaprabha’s King Power Foxes beat George Hanbury’s Sommelier 10-6. The 20-goal partnership of Gonzalo and Facundo Pieres made the difference, and James Fewster, who joined the side at the semi-final stage, was named MVP.
Sources: Guards Polo Club
