Two competitive lady players won on the second day of the Aston Martin Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup tournament. Ana Escobedo’s Ojo Caliente squad came from 4-0 down on The Castle Ground to win their first league match in this 20-goal contest. Some superb play from Cruz Heguy and the irrepressible Alfredo Capella in the later stages of this match – Ojo Caliente only took the lead for the first time in the fifth chukka - ensured they won this match 8-6. Their opposition, Enrico Meneghetti’s Quianto Capital might have been playing in their first high-goal tournament but they were in top gear from the first chukka. In fact Meneghetti was the first to score, firing through a fabulous goal early in the first chukka. Juan Britos and Teo Lacau were a brilliant partnership and Ollie Cudmore, fresh from his England success in the Coronation Cup just 48 hours earlier, was also impressive. Sadly Cudmore had to retire from the game in the third following a heavy fall at the end of the second. Tomas Willans subbed in and worked hard to replicate Cudmore’s passion but the change in personnel damaged Quianto Capital’s momentum. This was a fabulously fast, up-and-down field match but Ojo Caliente managed to get some air in the score in the final chukka thanks to goals from Ned Hine and Capella.
The second match of the day was a more clear-cut affair. Jasmine Calvert Ansari’s White Crane Black dominated this game against Bangash. They were 7-1 up at the start of the third chukka on The Princes’ Ground, with Felipe Dabas delivering some accurate penalty taking and Pelon Stirling showing everyone why he has 12 Argentine Opens under his belt. Bangash, featuring HH Sheikha Alya Al Maktoum in place of patron Haider Bangash, struggled to turn some lovely play into goals and were trailing 8-2 at half-time. However Jeronimo del Carril and Tommy Fernandez Llorente worked hard to restore honour in the second half, ensuring the game finished on a respectable 12-8 scoreline. Although less flowing than the morning game, this was still a great game to watch and again bodes well for the rest of the tournament.
Images copyright Marcos Cerdeira
