Aiken, SC – USA-Aiken faced off against Team Barbados on Sunday May 11 to determine the winner of the 2008 International Series of Polo I presented by Hotel Aiken and hosted by 302 Polo presented by Mercedes-Benz of Augusta. Team USA-Aiken’s squad consisted of Paul Shealy (B), Theresa King (1), Todd Martineau (3) and Gene Fortugno (4).
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball was Team Barbados, which has proven repeatedly to be a tough nut to crack consistently dominating Team USA-Aiken in 2007 and 2008 in three out of four games played in Barbados. Kent Cole (1), Wayne Archer (2), Phillip Tempro (2) and Richard Gooding (2) composed this line-up.
High winds and the previous night’s and early morning rains almost cancelled the match but Meadow Hill’s field #2 was determined to be in perfect condition and the game went off at 5 PM.
Wayne Archer of Barbados opened the scoring and it seemed as if team Barbados might once again dominate Team USA-Aiken’s squad as the first chukker ended with them on top 1-0. In the second chukker Todd Martineau’s penalty two conversion evened the score at 1-1. Then in the third Theresa King and Todd Martineau both found the mark to put the American’s ahead 3-1. In the fourth and final chukker Paul Shealy and Theresa King of Team USA-Aiken each found the mark to end the game with an American victory with a final score of 5-1.
Philip Tempro of Barbados said that despite the loss “everyone from Barbados has had a grand time, the people here in Aiken have been fabulous hosts.” Philip and his teammates from Barbados all plan on being back here to play again next year to reverse the tides.
302 Polo (www.302polo.com), Hotel Aiken, Mercedes-Benz of Augusta, and all of the participating corporate sponsors were delighted to host this unique and special event in Aiken.