Audi US Polo Team plays charity match against Prince Harry in the UK
• Charity match benefiting Royal Forces Foundation
• Prince Harry leads Audi US Polo Team’s opponents
• First time Audi US Polo Team plays oversees
Miami – The Audi US Polo Team played against the Lucchese Team, led by Prince Harry, for The Stanford Sandhurst Cup. The annual Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Charity Day, which saw the Lucchese Team win by half a point, benefited the British Forces Foundation.
Under the leadership of team patrons and Wellington residents, Marc and Melissa Ganzi, the Audi US Polo Team also included 6 goaler Nacho Figueras and 7 goaler Juan Bollini.
This is the first match oversees for the Audi US Polo Team, which has been playing under the sponsorship of the luxury German car manufacturer since 2006.
“Polo, which is often regarded as powerful, elegant and sporty embodies those attributes that also describe the Audi brand perfectly. Therefore, this sponsorship was a natural fit,” said Anja Kaehny, Manager Lifestyle Communication East Coast for Audi. “But we do not consider this a traditional sponsorship as the players in our team are true ambassadors of the brand.”
The match itself provided five chukkas with Lucchese starting the match with a 1.5 goal handicap advantage. Within seconds, Audi US Polo Team’s Nacho Figueras scored to bring them back to within a half a goal of the lead.
The Commandant’s team, which also included 7 goaler Hector Guerrero, Ben Vestey, and team patron John Muse, soon rained on the parade with a goal from Ben Vestey.
Marc Ganzi managed to pull the Audi US Polo Team back to within half a goal of Lucchese by the end of the first chukka, with the scores at 3.5 to 3 in favor of Lucchese.
The second chukka saw some cracking runs by the Ganzi duo, but it was Hector Guerrero who stole the show for Lucchese, taking them further in the lead to make it 4.5 to 3 at the end of the second chukka.
The third chukka had two fabulous goals by Nacho Figueras, taking the Audi US Polo Team into the lead for the first time. Their lead was short-lived, as Prince Harry scored a goal and put Lucchese back in front. The gap in the proceedings helped Lucchese as John Muse snuck a great goal between the posts, pushing his team further in front. The Lucchese Team scored again to take them 2.5 goals clear of the Audi US Polo Team at the start of the fourth chukka. By the end of the fourth chukka, the Audi US Polo Team had clawed back a goal and were trailing by the starting handicap advantage of 1.5 goals.
With everything to play for the teams battled it out for victory in the fifth chukka. The Prince played a blinding final chukka and went along way to fending off a late attack by the Audi US Polo Team, who managed to bring themselves back to within half a goal of victory.
“It was a great game, with some fantastic fast, open polo,” commented Audi US Polo Team Patron and Captain Marc Ganzi. “It was the perfect way to celebrate this great day in honor of the British Forces Foundation. Today is the first time the Audi US Polo Team has brought a team over – it is brilliant for the sport and for the sponsor.”
The awards ceremony was hosted by international singing sensation Katherine Jenkins. Katherine is a trustee of the British Forces Foundation and an ambassador for Audi UK.
As a pacesetter in progressive technology and design, Audi is actively involved with a variety of cultural and sporting events and teams around the world supporting progressive and visionary people. Apart from the US, the luxury car manufacturer supports Polo in Argentina and in the UK.
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About Audi of America
Audi of America, Inc. offers a line of luxury vehicles that include the Audi A3 sport compact; the sporty A4 sedan, Avant and Cabriolet models; the high performance S4 sedan, Avant and Cabriolet models, the high-revving RS 4 sport sedan and Cabriolet; the all new A5 Coupe with FSI direct injection technology; the S5 Coupe with 354 hp; the design-leading A6 sedan and Avant; the V-10 powered high performance S6 sedan; the Audi Q7 performance SUV; the new all-aluminum Audi A8 and A8L; the new S8 with V10 power; the all-new 2008 TT Coupe and Roadster models; and the all-new, all-aluminum R8, one of the most exclusive mid-engine sports cars in the world. Upcoming Audi vehicle launches in the USA include the updated A3 with quattro all-wheel drive (Sept. 2008), all-new A4 sedan/Avant (Sept. 2008), TTS coupe and Roadster (end 2008), Audi Q7 3.0 TDI (early 2009), and Audi Q5 (Q1 2009). For more information, please visit www.audiusa.com or media.audiusa.com.
About the Audi US Polo Team
Under the leadership of team patrons Marc and Melissa Ganzi, the Audi Polo Team has just concluded the 2008 winter / spring season in South Florida where the team competed in the elite 26-goal leagues in Palm Beach, the highest level of professional polo in the United States. The team started the season with a victory in The Lechuza Cup anchored by the potent attack of 6-goal international star Nacho Figueras and the sensational Argentine 10-goal brothers, Facundo and Gonzalito Pieres. In the 104th US Open Championships the team escaped qualification bracket play, only to lose in the quarterfinals by one goal in the final seconds to the two-time reigning US Open Champion Crab Orchard who then went on to win the US Open with minimal resistance.