It is the final every polo follower wants: a tight match, a big crowd, and a result that goes to extra time. On Sunday 21 July, at Cowdray Park Polo Club in Midhurst, Dubai beat VS King Power 13-12 in the Gold Cup for the British Open Polo Championship, with the decisive goal arriving after normal time had ended.
The teams
Dubai kept their line-up unchanged from earlier in the tournament. At number one was 16-year-old Camilo Castagnola, with Rashid Albwardy at two, Bartolomé Castagnola at three and Ignacio du Plessis at back. It is a young side, with two brothers at its heart, and it plays with plenty of confidence.
VS King Power, the team of the Thai Srivaddhanaprabha family, lined up with Top Srivaddhanaprabha at one, Polito Pieres at two, Marcos di Paola at three and Juan Martin Zubia at back.
How the match went
- Dubai led 6-4 at half-time.
- King Power came back strongly after the break, moving ahead for a spell in the second half.
- Bartolomé Castagnola converted a 60-yard penalty as Dubai fought back to level the match.
- The scores were tied at the end of regulation, and the match went to extra time, where Camilo Castagnola scored the goal that settled it.
The Castagnola brothers were the key scorers for the winners. That a 16-year-old should be in the middle of a Gold Cup final win tells you a great deal about where the sport’s next generation is coming from.
The Cowdray occasion
Cowdray reported more than 12,000 visitors for the final. The day also had a funfair, the Petworth Town Band, a display by the RAF Falcons parachute team and a sculpture by Nic Fiddian-Green. The Gold Cup remains the highlight of the English polo season, and the big lawns at Midhurst never seem to lose their atmosphere.
The British Ladies Polo Championships ran alongside the final phase of the Gold Cup, with eleven teams entered, which gave the week a strong women’s presence too.
For Dubai, this is one of the finest days the team has had. For the rest of the sport, it is a reminder that a high-goal match is never decided until the final whistle, and sometimes not even then.
Sources: Cowdray Park Polo Club, POLO+10
