Battle lines drawn at Thai Polo Open
Tuesday, 12 January 2010 15:53
The Thai Polo Club, Pattaya, was host last week to an international line-up of some of the world’s finest polo players for the opening matches of the Mercedes Benz and B.Grimm Thai Polo Open 2010. The prestigious tournament has attracted 7 teams from across the globe, with Royal Princes and dignitaries joining forces with professional players from England, India, Malaysia and of course Argentina.
The first match showed the spectators an early glimpse of the quality of ponies and dynamic team play of the Royal Pahang team, led by the accomplished veteran of the international polo circuit, HRH Prince Abdullah. Although returning to the field for the first time following a prolonged break due to a painful back strain, the Prince displayed some great flare and accuracy in front of goal. Alongside the Prince was Dato’ Mohamed Moiz, playing well above his modest handicap of 1, and the pair combined perfectly in tune with their Argentinean hired guns, Gaston Moore and Martin Inchauspe. Their unfortunate opposition, Bunga Raya, featuring Dato’ Razak Feroz Khan and Argentinean star Manuel Crespo, struggled to find their form and seemed to lag behind with their pony power. Despite putting up a good fight, they were eventually dispatched by 18 goals to 4.5 in favour of the mighty Royal Pahang.
Day two of the tournament began with the Thai based B. Grimm - Insead team taking on the slick and well practiced Malaysian professional quartet of RMPA. The only lady player in the tournament, Claudia Zeisberger, paired up with Gary Tiernan from Ireland to produce a promising B.Grimm - Insead team including Argentinean maestros Raul Laplacette and Carlos Pando. This Argentinean duo faced a mammoth task of holding off the skilful Edham Shaharuddin and Shaik Reismann, who combined with almost telepathic quality, but at the end of the third chukka the scores were level at 4 apiece. A dramatic last period saw RMPA find yet another gear and they eventually overcame the brave B. Grimm - Insead team by 7 goals to 6.
Next it was the turn for host team Thai Polo, lead by club Chairman Dato’ Harald Link, to prove their worth against another Thai based side fronted by businessman, Aron Harilela. Thai Polo opened well with 3 unanswered goals in the first chukka, with some superb runs from ex England polo team captain, Andrew Hine, and his Argentinean team mate, Manolo Fernandez Llorente. However, the English power base of Nacho Gonzalez and Matt Lodder then started to get into their stride, and by the end of the third period the score was tied at 5 all. A cliff hanger of a last chukka saw 2 more goals for both teams, and in the closing moments Thai Polo had a chance with an open goal penalty, which sadly for them was hit wide. The nail-biting encounter finished in a 7 to 7 draw.
The last match of the day saw a strengthened Bunga Raya team, now featuring substitutes Argentinean professional, Gines Bargallo, and Thai Polo Club instructor Adriano Di Gianvittorio. This time they pitched their talents against the much fancied Jogo Elevation team led by Sattinder Garcha and Quzier Ambak. Bunga Raya’s altered quartet began with a commanding new force which brought them to a lead of 4 goals to 2 by half time. Garcha and his crew were not about to roll over though, and the giant awoke. With Argentinean 7 handicapped Gerardo Manzini confidently at the helm, sending searching pass after pass over his opponent’s heads and the young Indian bandit, Simran Sergil, finding some deadly accurate finishing ability, they piled on 10 goals in the second half. Bunga Raya were left reeling once again, and were consequently knocked out of the semi-finals by 12 goals to 6.
Last Sunday saw the concluding day of the league phase of the tournament. RMPA, with one win already under their belts, faced the home side, Thai Polo, who needed a win to reach the semi-finals. RMPA, who received 1.5 goals on handicap at the start, were bombarded with attacks on their goal from the rising English star, Ollie Cudmore, braving the match following a nasty hand injury on the previous day. Fernandez Llorente also found the posts for Thai Polo, bringing their lead to 6 to 4.5 by the half time bell.
RMPA put up a steady resistance, scoring one goal per chukka throughout the match, with some spectacular penalty strikes from Edham. However, some tight marking from Harald Link stifled their usual open and flowing tactics, and they were ultimately out-gunned by Hine and his fellow professional players, resulting in an 8 to 5.5 victory for Thai Polo, thus securing their place in the semi-finals.
Subsequently Harlilela took the field against B.Grimm-Insead, who had been so unlucky in their first match. Gonzalez was on the top of his game and masterfully steered the well drilled Harilela team to a punishing half time lead of 7 to 1.5. Although B.Grimm-Insead fought back bravely, they could not match their opponents’ relentless pressure and the final score of 11 to 5.5 put Harilela through to the semi-finals.
The last battle of the day was between the previously prolific scorers, Royal Pahang and Jogo Elevation. HRH Prince Abdullah’s nagging back strain forced him to be substituted by HRH Prince Dato' Faisal. The change in line up seemed to affect the dynamics and rhythm of the team and Jogo capitalized early, bringing them to a half time lead of 4 goals to 2.
Some gloriously accurate penalty shooting from Moore kept Royal Pahang in touch and they were a renewed force by the last period of play. However, the tenacity of Manzini’s captaincy proved just enough to stave off some amazing individual efforts from the Royal Pahang camp and Jogo Elevation ran out the winners by a slim 7 to 6 margin. With big wins in their previous league matches, this result allowed for both of these gallant teams to proceed to the semi-finals on Wednesday 13th January in what is certain to be an incredibly exciting feast of polo.
Special thanks to Thai Polo & Equestrian Club's General Manager Roddy Matthews for this artiicle.
