Bin Drai crowned winners of the Julius Baer Gold Cup 2018

Bin Drai won the Julius Baer Gold Cup 2018 after defeating Abu Dhabi in the final by 13 goals to 9 in a great day at the Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club. A well deserved triumph for an organization that, after several attempts, finally achieves the most important trophy of the Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series. Bin Drai proved that is the best team of the season after playing at a very high level today against Abu Dhabi.

 

After losing the final of the McLaren Cup against Zedan, team made up by patron Rashid Bin Drai, Andrés Laplacette, Matías Torres Zavaleta and Raúl Laplacette became stronger in the Gold Cup and achieved it´s reward by lifting the Julius Baer Gold Cup. Bin Drai was far superior to his rival and showed his intentions from the first minute. They knew they couldn´t waste another opportunity (after losing years ago a couple of finals) and played the best game of the season. Teamwork and concentration from the first minute till the very end were the keys of a deserved 13 goals to 9 victory.

 

Andrés Laplacette was named the Most Valuable Player of the final (MVP) and Cruzeiro (played by Raúl Laplacette in the 1st and 4th chukker) the Best Playing Pony (BPP). Cruzeiro was also the BPP of the McLaren Silver Cup 2018. Desert Palm achieved the Bentley Cup after defeating Habtoor Polo by 7 goals to 5 in the final.

 

Matches Progression:

 

Bin Drai: 2-1/ 5-3/ 9-3/ 12-4/ 13-9

Top Scorers of the match: Alfredo Capella (Abu Dhabi) 8 goals & Raúl Laplacette (Bin Drai) 7 goals.

 

Desert Palm: 2-2/ 3-2/ 5-4/ 7-5/ 7-5

Top Scorers of the match: Camilo Castagnola and Santiago Laborde (Desert Palm) 3 goals.

 

The Julius Baer Gold Cup (Dubai Open), an 18-goal handicap competition, is one of the only tournaments in the United Arab Emirates to be recognized and certified by the World Polo Tour (WPT) and ranked by the highly coveted ‘WPT Cup’, resulting in winners receiving 60 points for their victory. The tournament is played under the banner of the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) and under strict international supervision according to the HPA rules and provision of its umpires.

 

Participating teams include: