Bin Drai wins the last qualifying match but Habtoor Polo will play the final of the Polo Masters Cup against Mahra

 

12th February 2017, DUBAI, UAE:  With today´s Bin Drai victory against Bangash by 6 goals to 4, the qualifying round of the Polo Masters Cup came to an end.

 

Despite of this victory, Bin Drai couldn´t make it to the final of the tournament and Habtoor Polo, with better goal difference, will play the Polo Masters Cup final against Mahra next tuesday at the Al Habtoor Polo Resort.

 

Bin Drai needed to win by 6 or more goals difference to qualify to the final but Bangash didn´t make thinks easy for the foursome made up by Rashid Al Falahi, Stuart Wrigley, Francisco Elizalde and Raúl Laplacette.

 

The winning team push hard to achieve the objective but finally the victory was by a two goal gap (6-4)

Raúl Laplacette (Bin Drai) was the top scorer of the match with 5 goals 

 

 

Match progression:

Bin Drai: 1-1/ 3-1/ 5-2/ 6-4

 

Next tuesday, Habtoor Polo and Mahra Polo will be playing the final of the Polo Masters Cup from 4 pm. Starting at 2.30 pm, Bin Drai and Wolves will be playing the 3rd place match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series

The Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series (Dubai Open), an 18 Goal Handicap competition, enters its eighth year under the Patronage of HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai.  The tournament is now the highest handicap in the UAE.

 

The Dubai Open has been split into two tournaments. Starting with the McLaren Cup, which runs from Saturday January 21st, 2017 to Friday February 3rd, 2017. The second tournament, the Julius Baer Gold Cup, commences on Friday, February 18th, 2017 to Friday March 10th, 2017.

 

The Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series is the fourth-largest tournament of its kind after Argentina, the US and the UK. First founded by Mohammed Al Habtoor in 2009, the tournament is the premier regional polo competition of the year, and attracts VIPs, society figures, and senior corporate executives from across the GCC.   It has grown in tandem with the city of Dubai and since 2012, it is the only tournament in the UAE to be recognized and certified by the World Polo Tour (WPT).   It is played under the banner of the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA), with the Gold Cup being played according to HPA rules and the provision of umpires is managed under strict international supervision by the HPA.

 

Mohammed Al Habtoor, Founder of the tournament and patron of the Habtoor Polo team said, “This year there are seven teams playing in the McLaren Cup and ten teams for the Julius Baer Gold Cup, further evidence that the tournaments continue to grow. The Dubai Open has helped put the UAE on the world polo circuit. Each year the competition gets better and better, and we attract some of the best polo players in the world.”

The participating teams will host some of the top-ranking World Polo Tour players, including Pablo Mac Donough, the 10-goal superstar and three-time ‘Triple Crown Champion with La Dolfina’; Nicolas Pieres, who was recently raised to 10 goals after his superb performance in the Argentine Open; Lucas Montverde (9-goal handicap); Alfredo Cappella Barabucci (9-goal handicap) Guillermo Terrera (8-goal handicap), and Ezquiel Martinez Ferrario (8-goal handicap) and many others, who have come directly from Argentine Open.  

The Dubai Polo Gold Cup will be held at the Al Habtoor Polo Resort and Club, Dubai Land. 

 

 

Cristina Gusita

Polo Coordinator General

Dubai Polo Gold Cup

E-mail: [email protected]