Hong Kong salvages a third place finish

By Alex Webbe

John Fisher led the Hong Kong attack on Wednesday to down England 8-6 to take third place honors at the 2012 Fortune Heights Super Nations Cup at the Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club in Tianjin, China Wednesday afternoon in a five chukker consolation match.

Jose Donoso and John Fisher scored the first two goals of the game to take an early 2-0 lead over England, but James Harper kept the Brits from getting blanked in the opening chukker with a goal from the field.  After one chukker of play, Hong Kong led, 2-1.

Fisher opened the second chukker with a goal just 1:35 into play, but James Beim countered with a goal for England who trailed 3-2.  Fisher’s third goal of the day had Hong Kong up, 4-2 with two minutes left in the chukker, but Beim’s second score of the period at 6:35 cut the lead to a single goal once again, 4-3.

Defenses stiffened in the third, with a penalty goal from John Paul Clarkin in the opening seconds of play giving Hong Kong a 5-3 edge.  Harper answered with a goal for England less than a minute later, cutting the lead back to a single goal, 5-4.  Runs up and down the field were turned aside by adroit defensive action and powerful backhanders as the period ground to a close.

Three minutes into the fourth chukker Clarkin split the English goalposts for a 6-4 Hong Kong lead, but a determined Harper responded with his third goal of the game just over a minute later.  Both teams had opportunities but the chukker ended with Hong Kong on top of 6-5 score.

Hong Kong pulled out all stops in the final chukker, but a resilient English defense kept them at bay until the 3:27 mark when Chris MacKenzie scored his first goal of the match for a 7-5 Hong Kong advantage.  Two minutes later Fisher tallied his first goal of the contest giving Hong Kong its largest lead of the day, 8-5.  England couldn’t break through the Hong Kong defense until the 6:09 mark when Mark Tomlinson got them on the scoreboard with his first scoring effort in an 8-6 Hong Kong victory.

Fisher led all scoring with four goals.  Clarkin scored twice and MacKenzie and Donoso each accounted for a goal.

Harper led the English attack with three goals.  Beim scored twice and Tomlinson added a goal in a losing effort.

The finals of the Fortune Heights Super Nations Cup are scheduled for Friday, October 5^th between the United States and Argentina.

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The Oct. 5th Finals kicks off at 14:00HKT, with live television coverage on TVB in Hong Kong. Games will also be shown, along with replays, at www.hurlinghampolo.com, www.tvb.com, and www.us-polo.org on a delayed feed.