The Cartier Queen’s Cup at Guards Polo Club is now well into its league stage, and the final days of May have brought three results worth recapping.
El Remanso 14, Clinova 9
Charlie Hanbury’s all-English El Remanso secured their first league win of the 2018 tournament on the Queen’s Ground, beating Adrian Kirby’s Clinova 14-9. Hanbury scored six of the 14 himself, though the team’s strength is how much they work together: Ollie Cudmore, James Beim and James Harper all scored too, and every time Juan Gris Zavaleta had the ball, two El Remanso players were on him. El Remanso led 8-4 at half-time. Clinova’s Malcolm Borwick scored four penalties and a field goal and kept his side in touch, creeping back during the fifth, but they failed to score in the sixth.
RH Polo 10, Emlor 7
RH Polo won their second game of the competition. Emlor never led, but the match stayed open: both sides failed to score in the third chukka and RH led 5-3 at half-time. When RH missed out in the fourth and Diego Cavanagh scored for Emlor, with Agustín Merlos adding a penalty, the game was all square. Sapo Caset, who had scored twice in the fifth and been yellow-carded, then scored three in the sixth to make sure of Ben Soleimani’s second win.
Valiente 11, Monterosso 9
Rob Jornayvaz’s Valiente appear to have a plan of building a big lead and easing off. Against Alejandro Bazzoni’s Monterosso, it worked until late on. Cristian Laprida scored four in the first three chukkas, Adolfo Cambiaso three and Hugo Lewis two, to lead 9-2 at half-time, with the Toccalino brothers replying. The second half was Monterosso’s: Juan Martín Zubia scored twice, Ignacio and Santiago Toccalino added five more, and it was 10-9 with under a minute left. Cambiaso then scored the 20th goal of the match to settle it.
What to watch
- Valiente’s slow starts in the second half: it kept them in a game they should have closed out.
- El Remanso’s cohesion: four Englishmen playing as a unit is a rarity at this level.
- Monterosso’s young talent, with Zubia a name to watch.
We will bring you the knockout rounds as they arrive.
Sources: POLO+10 (Day 6), POLO+10 (Day 7)
