Sumaya defeated Zacara 11-10 in a close game at Guards Polo Club to win the Kerry Packer Trophy and claim their first league victory in the 2012 Cartier Queen’s Cup competition. This means that Zacara, who came to this competition straight from having won the US Open, have yet to register a win in this year’s competition.

The score was close in the early chukkas of this League Three match, with Ahmad Aboughazale’s team leading 3-2 at the end of the first chukka. Lyndon Lea's  Zacara’s three goals in the second , to only two in reply from Sumaya, levelled the score at 5 apiece after the second. In a twist that was typical of this game, Sumaya were unable to capitalize greatly on Zacara’s inability to score in the third by only finding the flags once themselves. However this crucial goal did give them a narrow 6-5 lead at half-time.

Then, whatever was said at the Sumaya’s half-time team talk seemed to work, as the green and red shirts came out firing on all cylinders in the fourth. They scored four goals to only one in reply from Zacara, giving them a  four-goal lead going into the fifth.  For the first time Sumaya could see that victory in this game was a possibility. Incredibly though their surge in form was short lived as the fifth chukka was their turn to fail to score, allowing Zacara to close the gap. The packed grandstands overlooking the Queen’s Ground at Guards Polo Club were now on the edge of their seats as this game was still very open when the umpires whistled to start  the sixth. And it was Zacara who scored first, finding the flags twice to level the scores.  Sumaya though were not going home empty handed and scored the last goal of the match to win and avoid an extra chukka and a golden goal scenario.

The team received the Kerry Packer Trophy, presented in memory of one of the great high-goal patrons of the sport, Kerry Packer of Ellerston, by his widow, Ros Packer. She was accompanied by Tim Howkins, Chief Executive of IG Index, one of Guards Polo Club’s Corporate Partners.

Zacara v Sumaya on The Queen's Ground at Guards Polo Club (Images of Polo)