Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club
Date: 11th of March 2013

polo top tournament

Ghantoot Set Up Habtoor Clash In Final Of Dubai Gold Cup

Royal Club Defeat Bin Drai 10-5 In Semi-Final; Aim To  Topple Defending Champions Saturday

Dubai 11th of March 2013: Polo Top Polo Tournament

Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club will face defending Dubai

Gold Cup Champions, Habtoor Polo in the final of the two-week long tournament on
Saturday after defeating Bin Drai Polo 10-5 in their crunch semi-final match at Dubai
Polo & Equestrian Club this evening.

Every player in the Ghantoot side got their names on the scoresheet as they sailed
passed Dubai-based Bin Drai. It was Bin Drai who scored first and that goal
galvanized the Ghantoot attack who breached Bin Drai’s defenses four times in the
first chukker to lead 4-1 going into the second period. Facundo Sola, who had scored
twice in the opening chukker, put the ball between the post three more times in the
second to give Ghantoot a 7-1 lead.

Bin Drai fought back in the third chukker, with JJ Brane, who had claimed his side’s
only goal until that point, doubling his tally for 7-2. The fourth chukker got underway
in increasingly windy conditions which saw Bin Drai score twice more to come
within three goals of Ghantoot.

Brane got his name on the scoresheet once again, to claim Bin Drai’s fifth and final
goal, but his side could not stem the tide and Ghantoot found the posts twice more to
end the game 10-5.

Ali Al Marri, Ghantoot’s Emirati player, said his side was focused on their task in the
final.

“It was an amazing day and was really great to win in such style in the semi-finals,”
he said. “Everybody in the team scored a goal and that is always satisfying. We are
playing incredibly well as a team and our ponies are really responding well during

matches.

“But now we focus on the final. It has been a long road to get to this point and we
have had some bad luck with golden goals along the way so we are very pleased to
reach this far.

“Habtoor are a tough side and they are defending champions and on home soil, but we
wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think we could beat them on Saturday. We have beaten
them this season and they have beaten us, so we know it will be a hard match. But it
is the reason we entered this tournament and we know that we have what it takes to
win.”

Ghantoot play under the patronage of club chairman, Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al
Nahyan. They will contest the final of the Dubai Goild Cup at 430pm on Saturday at
Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club near Arabian Ranches.

The HH President’s Cup, the highlight of the Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club season,
will take place later this month at the Royal club’s home ground in Abu Dhabi.

Polo Top Polo Tournament.

 

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