On Friday, November 28th, the finals of the first Thai Polo Cup of the Thai Polo Club, in Pilar, Argentina took place and team Power Infrastructure took the trophy home. Thai Polo got the 2nd place, while Amadeus Macau was the winner of La Martina Cup and Sonny Hill the 2nd runner up for this cup.
At 5.00pm under perfect blue skies, teams Thai Polo (Harald Link, Lía Salvo, Matías Loguioco and A. García Grossi) and Power Infrastructure (Miguel Mendoza, Marcelo Amadeo y Videla, Edouard Pan and Bautista Ortiz de Urbina) played against each other in a great 5-chukka match. Power Infrastructure took the lead from the beginning of the match and kept it that way, although Thai Polo kept the goal difference very narrow, they could not recover and finally, the match ended with 6-5.
Marcelo Amadeo y Videla was the absolute star of the game. His tactically clever game and his speed made him stand up among all the players, and own the game. The fifth chukka of the match was specially thrilling, when everything came up to the last minute, some fast balls were played and the spectators were breathless, but no new goal came up from these amazing moves, and the score stayed the same, giving the trophy to the blue team.
The Best Playing Pony prize was awarded to Magic, owned by Horacio Heguy and ridden by Bautista Ortiz de Urbina, and Most Valuable Player was the surprisingly young Rufino Bensadon, of only 12 years of age. The referees of the event were all world renowned referees that are currently also in the Argentine Polo Open.
This polo event had something special for all the spectators: in half-time, the organizers came up with a great idea, a race between a polo pony and a Ferrari. The audience cheered the horses while this took place, while surprised at the brilliant idea for entertaining while the players got some rest.
After the match, the award ceremony took place, where the Ambassador of Thailand came up to the stage to salute the winning team, and Harald Link gave a heartfelt speech about the first edition of his event, thanking everyone from the players to the spectators, then polo players and public went back to the tent, where they enjoyed drinks and food while the sun was setting behind the field. When the night fell, it was time for the fireworks and the closing of this new event, that we hope will be repeated next year.
This event was co-organized by Thai Polo Club and Licere PR.
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The teams:
Thai Polo
Harald Link
Matias Loguioco
Lia Salvo
A. Garcia Grossi
Sonny Hill
Curtis Pilot
Gonzalo de la fuente
Naco Taverna
Nick Manifold
Las Codornices
Ruben Burgos
Tatu Gomez Romero
Luis Duggan
Tuki Ruiz Guiñazu
Power Infrastructure
Miguel Mendoza
Marcelo Amadeo y Videla
Eduard Pan
Bautista Ortiz de Urbina
Amadeus/Macau
Robert Kofler
Rodrigo Castro
Agustin Nero
Santiago Marambio
In The Wings
Andre Fabre
Fransisco Bensadon
Rufino Bensadon (H)
Tomas Garbarini Islas
