Dubai Trophy
Raksriaksorn scored the first goal of the last chukka, and he then foiled what would have been a good 60-yard penalty conversion by Antinori Ussher, gallant to the end, sent the last goal of the afternoon for Las Marias between the posts, Diaz then ensuring a King Power win with a brace of penalty conversions.
In the subsidiary final, Jonathan Hare’s Harum Scarum defeated Albert Esiri’s Ashbert Raiders by just half a goal, 7-6. Hare’s strong man was Hissam Ali Hyder, at 6-goals Pakistan’s leading player, while the prince had recruited the 11-goal combination of Baustista Sorzana and Pancho Marin-Moreno.
Singer Katherine Jenkins, accompanied by the current Ham president Steve Lamprell and his wife, Gillie, presented the Dubai Trophy to Top Raksriaksorn, whose Harmonica was also named Best Playing Pony. The prize rug was presented by Sarah Boland, from Liphook Equine Hospital, and Ham’s polo manager Will Healy, who also refereed both final and subsidiary final. The umpires were Sandhurst polo manager Gaston Devrient-Kidd and New Zealand professional Greg Keyte; Benjie Davis and Charlie Wood providing erudite commentaries.
Dara Williams reports on the final of this year’s Dubai Trophy
THE final of the fifth, and latest, edition of the Dubai Trophy was, in a sense, a presidential affair. The handsome trophy was presented to Ham by former president Ali Albwardy, patron of the high-goal Dubai squad, and this year’s winners were King Power, led by Top Raksriaksorn whose father, Vichai, is also a past club president.
Four teams entered the tournament, at 12-goals the highest at Ham, this season and the 9-5 victory of King Power over James Craven’s Las Marias was the culmination of some close-run qualifying games. The finalists were extremely well-matched, in manpower and pony power, although King Power were the only team to have gone into two figures during the course of the tournament, when they beat Prince Albert Esiri’s Ashbert Raiders 10-7 in an early game.
Raksriaksorn had recruited one of England’s best known young pro- fessionals, George Meyrick, who was capped three times this season, together with Santiago Lujan and Miguel Diaz, who was to prove the strong man of the side. For Las Marias, Craven had brought in 5-goaler Tomas Ussher, backed up ably by Ricardo Furno and, initially, Vieri Antinori. As it happened, Vieri missed the final, having been injured in an earlier match, and was replaced by his brother, Nicolas.
The King Power account was opened in the first chukka by Diaz, who sent through a 30-yard penalty conversion; and he was soon followed by a goal from young Rakriasksorn. Furno replied for Las Marias but, despite well-matched teams, King Power gained a 5-2 lead in the sec- ond of the four chukkas. This was due to a brilliant under the neck shot by Lujan and two goals from Diaz, but Las Marias remained undaunted, Furno and Ussher reducing the difference to 6-4 in the penultimate chukka. Indeed, Furno and Ussher were the only scorers for Las Marias during the final, Furno recording a hat-trick of goals.
Ali Albwardy and Vichai Raksriaksorn were thanked warmly by Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers for their ongoing support, especially for the use of their home grounds during the early stages of the tournament. Guests then adjourned to a barbecue and dancing, which lasted into the early hours of the next day.
KING POWER Top Raksriaksorn Santiago Lujan George Meyrick Miguel Diaz
HARUM SCARUM Jonathan Hare Orlando Camus Ryan Pemble
Hissam Ali Hyder
0 5 5 5
12
-1 2 5 6
12
ASHBERT RAIDERS Prince Albert Esiri Jamie Grayson Bautista Sorzana
LAS MARIAS James Craven Nicolas Antinori Ricardo Furno Tomas Ussher
-1 4 4 5
12 0
-1 6
Pancho Marin-Moreno 5 10
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HAM POLO CLUB
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