Sumaya 9-goaler Hilario Ulloa
Cortium (Adrian Kirby, Chris Mackenzie, Francisco Elizalde and Eduardo Novillo Astrada) was looking for its first win in three outings as they met Talandracas (Edouard Carmignac, Juan Martin Nero, Lucas James and Juan Jauretche) in the 2013 British Open for the Gold Cup at the Cowdray Park Polo Club.
The two teams started out evenly, each coming up with a pair of goals in the opening chukker. The teams were tied at 2-2, each vying for control of the ball.
Talandracas scored three unanswered goals in the second period. Cortium was unable to break through the Talandracas defense and fell behind, 5-3.
The third chukker was a repeat of the opening period of play. Defense took the forefront, with each team limited to a single goal. At the end of the first half Talandracas continued to hold a three goal lead, 6-3.
For the first time all day, Cortium outscored Talandracas. Cortium recorded two goals while holding Talandracas to a single score. Talandracas continued to lead, but the margin was pared down to a two goals, 7-5.
Cortium got their second wind in the fifth. Two Cortium goals went unanswered and the score was deadlocked at 7-7 going into the final chukker.
Cortium scored the first goal of the sixth chukker, 8-7. Ten-goaler Juan Martin Nero fueled the comeback as Talandracas responded with consecutive goals to end the chukker and the game with a 9-8 win.
SUMAYA 11, THAI POLO 8
Sumaya (Ahmad, Tomas Garbarini, Francisco Sola and Hilario Ulloa) and Thai Polo (Harald Link, Nic Roldan, Alejandro Novillo Astrada and Malcolm Borwick) are going in opposite directions with Sumaya looking for its third consecutive victory while Thai Polo rides onto the field at 0-2,
Thai Polo started out slowly, but then that has been their pattern. By the end of the second chukker Sumaya had a 5-2, three goal lead. Thai continued to struggle with an offense that had been averaging five goals per game.
Thai Polo scored the only goal of the third chukker, as a determined defensive effort kept Sumaya off f the scoreboard. A single goal cut into the Sumaya lead, with Thai Polo trailing by a mere two goals, 5-3 at the end of the first half.
Thai Polo came up with two more goals in the fourth, but Sumaya offense was on a roll as well. Three more Sumaya goals had them in front 8-5 with two chukkers left to play.
Thai Polo took the lead in the fifth. Consecutive goals from Thai Polo cut the lead to a single goal, 8-7. Thai Polo fought to tie it up but the Sumaya defense held solid and the fifth chukker ended with Sumaya on top by the one goal lead, 8-7.
Sumaya took control of the game back in the final chukker. Three consecutive Sumaya goals had them extending their lead to four goals, 11-7. Thai Polo tallied the final goal of the game, but it would be Sumaya that would ride away with the 11-8 victory and a perfect 3-0 record.
Two more games in the British Open are scheduled to be played on Sunday with Zacara, 2-0, and Les Lions, 1-1, facing off at 3PM while the 5PM contest will feature Salkeld (0-2) and HB Polo (0-3).