The semifinals of the Emirates Polo Championship International, which is underway at Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club have already been set, after the last league games. It’s worth to notice that Ghantoot and AM Polo had already a spot each in the tournament’s next stage.
El Basha and Lamar played the first match; both lineup lost their two previous games, so in order to have a chance to reach a penalty shootout, they needed a win and subsequently, wait for the remaining results. In a very fast contest – it only lasted 49 minutes – El Basha was the domiannt force, leading 4-2.5 by the end of the second chukka, until Lamar made an impressive comeback with only one chukka left, to remain half a goal behind. In a hard fought last chukka, and led by Chulo Guerrero, Lamar managed to earn a tight 7.5-7 victory,
The second game saw Ghantoot and AM, with both foursomes already in semifinals; in a contest to determine who would end first in the standings, Alya Al Maktoum’s and her boys demonstrated to be up to the task, delivering their best polo. At the end of the day, and under the command of their stop scorer, Benja Urquiza, AM Polo won 8-6, their seventh consecutive win.
Last but not least, the Sultan Bin Zayed field hosted the last game of the day, Abu Dhabi vs. Bin Drai. Due to Lamar’s win, Faris Al Yabhouni’s team was already in the semifinals, while Bin Drai needed a win to qualify, otherwise, they would go to a penalty shootout against Javier Guerrero’s team. It was a very tough games, that included no less than 32 fouls and a total of two hours of play, that ended in extra chukka, following a 9-all in regulation time. Santiago Solari produced the winning goal to secure Abu Dhabi the 10-9 victory.
The order of play for the semifinals of the Emirates International Polo Championship, due on Tuesday February 4, is the following:
AM Polo vs Abu Dhabi
Bin Drai vs Ghantoot
THE EMIRATES POLO CHAMPIONSHIP INTERNATIONAL IS STREAMED LIVE ON POLOLINE TV HERE.
EMIRATES POLO CHAMPIONSHIP INTERNATIONAL – Teams & Fixture