UAE Polo Team Proudly Claims the Julius Baer Gold Cup 2019

The undefeated streak of the UAE Polo team continues as they proudly lifted the trophy as this year's Julius Baer Gold Cup champions.

 

The Final delivered excellent polo matches and great entertainment that did not disappoint the spectators and fans at the Al Habtoor Polo Resort and Club.  A flag presentation by the Al Habtoor Riding School marked the start of the afternoon followed by the Bentley Subsidiary Final with Dubai Wolves competed against Zedan Polo team. The Wolves came in strong with the lead on the first chukker which Zedan matched with goals on the second that led to a tie at 3 - 3. Zedan charged further and stretched this gap with subsequent goals from Santiago Laborde and Raul Laplacette. Manuel Crespo and Yousef Bin Desmal from Dubai Wolves evened out the advantage by the end of the fourth chukker. The last one had seen the teams in a tight game, each striving to take home the win. Zedan closed the match with a one-goal lead and claimed the Bentley Cup 2019 title and trophy.

 

Match progression:

Zedan Polo team: 0- 3 | 3 - 3 | 3 - 6 | 6 - 6 | 8 - 7

Top scorer of the match: Manuel Crespo, 5 goals

 

Prior to the highly anticipated face-off between Habtoor Polo and UAE Polo teams, the crowd was treated to a performance by the Dubai Police Marching band followed by the UAE National Anthem. A display of fine Bentley Cars accompanied the teams for their presentation. The first chukker showed an even performance from both teams which ended at 3 - 2 in favour of UAE Polo. The team kept increasing its goal advantage with a series of goals until halftime notably from Tomas Panelo. The Habtoor team came back with three goals from Facundo Sola and Tommy Beresford to close in the score and settled the fourth chukker at 9 - 6. Facu managed to deliver two more goals at the last chukker but was not enough to outscore its opponent. The Final declared UAE Polo team as its victors with a score of 10 - 8.

Match Progression:

UAE Polo team: 3- 2 | 6 - 3 | 8 - 3 | 9 - 6 | 10 - 8

Top scorer of the match: Facundo Sola, 6 goals

Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum bin Rashid al Maktoum graced the afternoon and awarded the winners of the Julius Baer Gold Cup 2019. Trevor Weller, Director - Prestige Division of Bentley Emirates joined him on the stage to award the Bentley Cup runner up - Dubai Wolves and the winners - Zedan Polo Team. For the final awardees, Régis Burger, Head Middle East of Julius Baer (Middle East) Ltd., joined the stage to give the awards to the runner up of the Julius Baer Gold Cup 2019 final - Habtoor Polo - and the champions - UAE Polo Team. Alejandro Muzzio was awarded the Most Valuable Player and Milly, the horse he rode, was named the Best Playing Pony.

 

About the Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series 

 
The Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series held in the UAE is one of only five tournaments in the world played in the WPT Championship Cup category, on a par with world-class events held in Argentina, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. It was founded by its Chairman Mohammed Al Habtoor in 2009. The Silver Cup and the Dubai Challenge Cup falls under the World Polo Tour (WPT) Challenge Cup Category awarding the winners of the Silver Cup with 50 points, the finalists with 25, semi-finalists with 10 and the rest of the players with 5 points; and Dubai Challenge Cup winners with 20 points. The Gold Cup is under the WPT Championship Cup – the highest competition in terms of points, awarding its winners with 80 points.

 
The Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club a state-of-the-art polo and equestrian community devoted to equine sports is the home ground of the Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series. Check out the Polo Calendar 2018-2019 for upcoming international-standard polo tournaments or contact +97144362222 | [email protected] | [email protected] for more information on other events scheduled at the Club.