The 2014 Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup for the British Open is one of the most important tournaments of the UK Polo Season. This year, it will begin on 24th June and run until the final on Sunday 20th July. The first match of the tournament will be The Carlos Gracida Memorial Trophy. This new cup has been donated by Charles and Lila Pearson in memory of the great Mexican player, Carlos Gracida, who sadly died in February of this year as a result of a polo accident. The match will take place on the Lawns 1 ground at Cowdray, the site where Carlos Gracida managed to win the Gold Cup a total of ten times, a record that has not been achieved since.
The draw for this years tournament took place on the evening of Monday 9th June at Ambersham Pavilion Cowdray. The teams were divided into 3 different divisions: Groups A, B and C. It was decided that Groups A & B would play cross over, whilst Group C would play amongst their division in the initial stages of the tournament. Each team will play 4 qualifying games.
Shown below are the Groups for this years tournament:
Group A
Black Bears
King Power
Lucchese
Talandracas
Group B
El Remanso
El Rosario
Enigma
HB Polo
Group C
Dubai
EFG Bank Aravali
Halcyon Gallery
Thai Polo
UAE
Zacara
The winners of last years Gold Cup, Lyndon Lea’s Zacara, will defend their title as British Open Champions, with 10 goaler Facundo Pieres once again playing up front in the Number 1 position. Dubai, with the world’s number one player Adolfo Cambiaso, who were the other finalist team from last years tournament, see a new addition to their line up in the form of 7 goal Argentine player Diego Cavanagh taking on the role of Number 2.
There are three new teams in the line up to compete for this years Gold Cup: Halcyon Gallery – made up of four English professionals, King Power – whose patron Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprab is bringing in 10 goal player Gonzalito Pieres, and El Rosario – whose 2 goal patron José Penafiel will play alongside Francisco Elizalde, Salvador Ulloa and Australian Rob Archibald.
The Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup begins with the group phase, which runs until the weekend of 12th/13th July, the weekend of the Quarter Finals. Hereafter, begins the knock-out phase of the tournament. The Semi Finals will be played in a different slot to last year and will be held on Wednesday 16th July, followed by the Final on 20th July.
More information on matches, grounds and timings can be found on the Cowdray Park Polo Club Website: www.cowdraypolo.co.uk
For further information on the draw and organisational process of the tournament, please also see: www.cowdraypolo.co.uk/news/2014-veuve-clicquot-gold-cup-draw
The teams:
King Power (+22)
Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprab (0)
Gonzalito Pieres (+10)
Pablo Llorente (+5)
Marcos Di Paola (+7)
HB Polo (+20)
Ludovic Pailloncy (+1)
Sebastien Pailloncy (+3)
Ignacio Toccalino (+8)
Pite Merlos (+8)
Talandracas (+22)
Edouard Carmignac (0)
Polito Pieres (+8)
Juan Martin Nero (+10)
Santiago Stirling (+4)
Lucchese (+22)
John Muse (0)
Lucas James (+7)
Nico Pieres (+8)
Luke Tomlinson (+7)
Black Bears (+22)
Guy Schwarzenbach (+2)
Facundo Sola (+8)
John Paul Clarkin (+8)
Patrick O’Dwyer (+4)
Zacara (+21)
Facundo Pieres (+10)
Lyndon Lea (+1)
Gonzalo Deltour (+6)
Matt Perry (+4)
EFG Bank Aravali (+22)
Karan Thapar (0)
Alejandro Muzzio (+7)
Joaquin Pittaluga (+7)
Jaime Huidobro (+8)
Halcyon Gallery (+22)
George Hanbury (+3)
Mark Tomlinson (+6)
James Beim (+7)
James Harper (+6)
UAE (+22)
Maitha Al Maktoum (0)
Lucas Monteverde (+8)
Pablo MacDonough (+10)
Ollie Cudmore (+4)
El Rosario (+22)
José Penafiel (+2)
Francisco Elizalde (+7)
Salvador Ulloa (+7)
Rob Archibald (+6)
Dubai (+22)
Rashid Albwardy (+2)
Diego Cavanagh (+7)
Adolfo Cambiaso (+10)
Alastair Paterson (+3)
Thai Polo (+22)
Harald Link (0)
Juan Ambroggio (+7)
Nic Roldan (+8)
Tomas Garcia del Rio (+7)
Enigma (+22)
Jerome Wirth (+1)
Chris Mackenzie (+5)
Guillermo Willington (+7)
Guillermo Caset (+9)
El Remanso (+22)
TBA (0)
Charlie Hanbury (+4)
Guillermo Terrera (+8)
David Stirling (+10)
