King Power 12 – 9 La Magdeleine
Aureus 12 – 9 White Crane
Sujan Indian Tigers 10 – 9 Kazak
The first of today’s three games was an impressive 12-9 win for King Power, continuing their unbeaten run in this year’s tournament. Both King Power and La Magdeleine were tied, neck and neck, in the first half of this game – 2-2, 3-3, 4-4. King Power then accelerated away in the second half to give themselves an impressive five-goal lead. Some great play from Pablo MacDonough and Ricardo Garros delivered results while England international Tommy Beresford fired through three goals. La Magdeleine stayed focused and started to close the gap in the sixth chukka, scoring two goals back-to-back off the sticks of Facundo Fernandez Llorente and Min Podesta. Jeronimo del Carril, who had spent much of this match battling Beresford, also found the flags at the end of the chukka but it was too late. King Power’s remarkable fourth chukka goal-fest had been enough.
Next up was an equally tight affair between Sanjay Kapur’s Aureus and Alexie Calvert Ansari’s White Crane. Aureus were looking for their first win after losing by two to King Power earlier in the week. For White Crane this was their first outing in this year’s competition and they were leading 5-4 at half-time. Fortunes switched in the second half with Aureus pulling away. A penalty plus a field goal from Benjamin Panelo gave Aureus a 7-6 lead after the fourth. He continued his assault on goal, joined by his brother Tomy, giving Aureus a comfortable 10-7 lead at the end of the fifth. Pablo Pieres and Matt Perry worked hard to get White Crane back into this game in the sixth but time was against them. To confirm Aureus's dominance in this game Kapur rode up the field to score just as the final bell was about to ring out.
The final game of the day saw Kazak and Sujan Indian Tigers, battling for both league status and the Royal Windsor Horse Show Cup. This was another closely fought game. Jaisal Singh’s Tigers won the battle 9-8 but Kazak were in contention every step of the way. In fact Sujan Indian Tigers were only ahead at the end of the sixth chukka. In every other chukka break Kazak were either ahead by one goal or the teams were level. Kazak, in their first Cartier Queen’s Cup tournament, had lost by the narrowest of margins in their opening match and they will be gutted that the same has happened here this afternoon on The Dukes’ Ground at Guards Polo Club. Jo Peck, Media Director for the Royal Windsor Horse Show, presented the Royal Windsor Horse Show Cup to a delighted Jaisal Singh.
Image copyright Pablo Ramirez
