ADCB Claims Title In 2012 Emirates Open Polo Championship

Bank Team Triumphs Over Emirates 6-1

 

 

 BinDesmal

Barabucci

 

Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club, Friday January 20, 2012: Hugo Barabucci scored four goals to help his team lift the trophy in the high-profile Emirates Open Polo Championship at Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club today (Friday).

ADCB had been unbeaten during the preliminary rounds of the
tournament, and the side continued their imperious run of form on
the big day.

Barabucci opened the scoring with two goals in the first chukker
and followed up with two more in the second. Emirates had no reply
and were then faced with an uphill battle to claw their way back into
contention during the remaining two chukkers.

Gonzalo Azumendi was able to score Emirates’ solitary goal in the
third chukker, but the side could not capitalise on that momentum,
failing to get the ball between the posts for the remainder of the
match.

To add insult to injury, the freely-scoring ADCB had more pain to
inflict on Emirates, with Emirati player, Abdulla Bin Desmal, and
Argentina’s Jorge Cernadas both claiming a goal each in the fourth
chukker.

The final score stood at 6-1 to ADCB.

Afterwards Barabucci, who named Most Valuable Player, said he was
proud of his team.

“It was very important to us that we would be able to play in the final
the same way we had all the way through this tournament,” said the
Argentine ace. “We had put in strong team performances and we
really wanted to sustain that even in the pressure of a final.

“I think that every match in this tournament has been of a very high

standard and winning here is really gratifying and shows that all our
hard work in training has paid off.”

The polo final came in the middle of a busy weekend for Ghantoot
Racing & Polo Club.

An international CSI2 showjumping event is being held in the
neighbouring Zayed Stadium at the Royal Abu Dhabi venue.

Riders from more than 28 countries, including the UAE are
competing in the event, which concludes tomorrow (Saturday) with
the Dh90,000 Grand Prix.

Ghantoot is now gearing up for the venue’s season-ending
tournament, the President of the UAE Polo Cup, which gets underway
on March 14.

The grand final, the most important date on the Ghantoot calendar,
will take place on March 30.

Ghantoot Polo Team will be back in action from February 25- March
9 in the Dubai Gold Cup polo series. The Abu Dhabi side will be flying
the flag the UAE’s capital when they take on a number of Dubai polo
outfits.

ENDS