Habtoor Polo and Ghantoot will be in the final of the Gold Cup. Habtoor Polo defeated Abu Dhabi by 8 goals to 6 and Ghantoot beat Bin Drai 9-5. Both semifinal matches were a high level of polo with plenty of goals in the two games.
The first match between Habtoor Polo and Abu Dhabi was a close game. In the first three chukkers both teams had a small margin between them. The first chukker Abu Dhabi led by 3 goals to 2, in the second period they ended with a 4 goal apice and in the third Habtoor had the advantage by 6-5. The one goal lead was very important for Mohammed Al Habtoor´s team who played the fourth chukka in a very inteligent way and with an earlier goal by Mohammed managed to control the game and achieve a victory.
In the second game of the Gold Cup Semifinals, Ghantoot played a superb match, with two great initial chukkers that were crucial for the final result. With a great performance by Facundo Sola, who scored four goals, Ghantoot went several goals ahead in the first half of the match (5-1 and 7-2) to control the game in the second half. Despite Bin Drai reacting in the last chukka they couldn´t manage to catch Ghantoot who finally won by 9 goals to 5.
Ali Al Marri, Ghantoot’s Emirati player, said his side was focused on their task in the final. “It was an amazing day and was really great to win in such style in the semi-finals,” he said. “Everybody in the team scored a goal and that is always satisfying. We are playing incredibly well as a team and our ponies are really responding well during matches. But now we focus on the final. It has been a long road to get to this point and we have had some bad luck with golden goals along the way so we are very pleased to reach this far. Habtoor are a tough side and they are defending champions and on home soil, but we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think we could beat them on Friday. We have beaten them this season and they have beaten us, so we know it will be a hard match. But it is the reason we entered this tournament and we know that we have what it takes to win.”
The Teams:
Abu Dhabi (+16)
Faris Al Yabhouni (0, UAE)
Manuel Elizalde (+4, ARG)
Juan Jose Storni (+5, ARG)
Juan Ambroggio (+7, ARG)
Bin Drai (+16)
Saeed Bin Drai (0, UAE)
Ignacio Ithurburu (+2, ARG)
Salvador Ulloa (+7, ARG)
Juan Jose Brane (+7, ARG)
Ghantoot (+16)
Ali Al Merri (0, UAE)
Pelayo Berazadi (+4, ARG)
Juan Zubiaurre Canal (+4, ARG)
Facundo Sola (+8, ARG)
Habtoor (+16)
Mohammed Al Habtoor (0, UAE)
Ignacio Bello (+3, ARG)
Guillermo Cuitino (+6, ARG)
Martinez Ferrairo Ezequiel Edwardo (+7, ARG)
Mahra (+16)
Rashid Al Habtoor (0, UAE)
Guy Gibrat (+4, ARG)
Augustin Canale (+6, ARG)
Fernando Pipi Bourdieu (+6, UK)
Zedan (+16)
Amr Zedan (0, KSA)
Matias Logioco (+3, ARG) / Guillermo Healy
Rodolfo Ducos (+4, ARG) / Mariano Uranga
Nachi Heguy (+9, ARG)
