Sujan Indian Tigers 8- 6 La Magdeleine
King Power 12- 11 Aureus
Calatagan LL 12 – 11 Kazak
Three more competitive games today that went down to the wire, including two matches that were pushed into extra time. First up was a tight affair between Sujan Indian Tigers and La Magdeleine. Facundo Fernandez Llorente and Jeronimo del Carril delivered some great teamwork for La Magdeleine but it was Jaisal Singh’s Tigers who secured a narrow advantage at half-time (4-2). Jaisal himself added a couple to his team’s tally, including a key goal to put his team ahead (7-6) in the sixth chukka. This was almost immediately followed by a big hit from team-mate Juan Martin Zubia to Juan Britos, who fired through the winner.
Next up was Aureus v King Power at Noel Farm. Aureus were fresh from their Prince of Wales victory at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club but allowed King Power to have a 3-1 lead after the first chukka. Aureus got back in contention in the second, levelling the score (4-4). In fact this levelling became a hallmark of this match, with the scores even after the second, fourth and sixth chukkas. The result was a frenetic game between two evenly matched teams. Not surprisingly, it went to a sudden death, seventh chukka. Here it was King Power’s patron, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who found the gold, firing through the winner.
A sudden death scenario concluded the final game of the day too. This time it was Simon Prado who delivered the golden goal for Marty Romualdez’s Calatagan LL, beating Sebastien Aguettant’s Kazak 12-11. Both teams were making their Cartier Queen’s Cup debuts and so wanted to win this all-important first outing. Kazak pulled away in the third and fourth chukkas, maintaining a three-goal lead. Chris Mackenzie continued Kazak’s good work in the fifth, scoring a fabulous, angled goal from around 120 yards out. Calatagan LL delivered some strong play in this same chukka and put themselves back level (10-10) after seven minutes. With both teams scoring in the sixth, extra time was inevitable.
