King Power and La Dolfina Great Oaks are through the semifinals of the British Open Polo Championship for the Cowdray Gold Cup, after the two quarter final games that took place on Saturday July 13. The tournament, which is the highlight of the season in England, was established in 1956, and is hosted by Cowdray Park Polo Club, set in Midhurst, West Sussex.

Both contest were very balanced and hard fought, and were only decided in the last chukka. In the opening game, La Dolfina Great Oaks had to battle to claim a very narrow 11-10 win over Desert Palm; there were many ties and both teams exchanged the leadership by the mininum gap. At the start of the sixth and last chukka, La Dolfina Great Oaks were one goal behind, but they managed to bounce back and produced two consecutive goals to take the win home, and the first ticket to semis.

The second match, between King Power and Valhalla, was quite similar, and was played under heavy rainfalls. They started tied at 2-all, but, and with the exception of the third chukka, King Power managed to claim a narrow lead over their contenders. And as it happened in the previous game, the Thai lineup was leading by only one goal by the start of the last chukka, that saw both foursomes fighting hard, but at the end of the day, luck was on King Power’s side and earned the second spot to semifinals.

La Dolfina Great Oaks and King Power will play the first semifinal on Wednesday July 17.

BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE COWDRAY GOLD CUP – QUARTER FINALS #1 – SATURDAY JULY 13

LA DOLFINA GREAT OAKS 11-10 DESERT PALM

La Dolfina Great Oaks: Dillon Bacon 2 (1 goal), Kian Hall 3 (1), Diego Cavanagh 8 (5), Poroto Cambiaso 5. Total: 22.

Desert Palm: Tariq Albwardy 0*, Rufino Lahulé 4 (3 goals), Juan Martín Nero 9 (1), Bartolomé Castagnola 9 (6). Total: 22.

*Subbed in for Ali Albwardy.

**Subbed in for Matías Torres Zavaleta.

Score La Dolfina Great Oaks: 1-1, 2-3, 5-5, 7-7, 9-10, 11-10.

Umpires: Peter Wright & Ben Turner.

Third man: Henry Fischer

KING POWER 9-8 VALHALLA

King Power: Top Srivaddhanaprabha 1 (1 goal), William Harper 4, Pablo MacDonough 9 (5), Nicolás Pieres 8 (3). Total: 22.

Valhalla: Justin MacRae 0, Jack Richardson 6, Benjamin Panelo 7 (5 goles), Alfredo Cappella 8 (3). Total: 21.

Score King Power: 2-2, 3-2, 5-4, 7-6, 8-7, 9-8.

The two last quarter final games of the British Open Polo Championship for the Cowdray Gold Cup will be played on Sunday July 14, as follows:

120m: Dubai vs Black Bears 

3pm: Talandracas vs La Dolfina Murus Sanctus

The final of the British Open Polo Championship for the Cowdray Gold Cup is due on Sunday July 21.

British Open Championship for the Cowdray Gold Cup – Teams & Fixture

Cover photo by Mark Beaumont.