Abu Dhabi Side Gets Confidence Boost
Ahead of Next Week's Gold Cup
Dhs 112,000
raised for Al Ain Private Centre for Care and Rehabilitation
A high-goal
charity match at Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club has raised Dh112,000 for the
Al Ain Private Centre for Care & Rehabilitation this evening after
the hosts beat Habtoor Polo in a 9-7 clash.
The 20-goal
match, the highest handicapped polo to be played in the UAE this season was a
new addition to Ghantoot’s polo calendar and is held under the patronage of the
club’s chairman, HH Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Both sides
are about to contest the Dubai Gold Cup, which takes place at Dubai Polo and
Equestrian Club all next week. Ghantoot’s victory over defending champions,
Habtoor Polo at this stage will bring a lot of confidence to the Royal club.
Ghantoot’s
Facundo Sola scored six goals, Juan Jaurechte two and Emirati player, Ahmed Al
Nueimi one. For Habtoor, Martinez Ferrairo got four, while Mohammed al Habtoor,
Guillermo Cuitino and Salvador Ulloa all got one.
“To win a
charity match for such a good cause is a really great feeling, said Ghantoot’s
Facundo Sola. “It was a very exciting game, which is what you would expect from
20-goal polo.
“We know we
are playing well, having just missed out in the semi-final of the Dubai Silver
Cup last week, when losing 10-9 to Abu Dhabi. Habtoor went on to win that
tournament and they are obviously a team in great form, so our win today was a
fantastic confidence boost.”
Ghantoot face
a rematch with Saudi Arabian side, Zedan Polo in the opening game of the Dubai
Gold Cup on Monday, and Zedan will be out for revenge after Ghantoot dumped
them out of the Silver Cup last week.
“There is a
lot to play for next week and having got so close in the Silver Cup, it just
makes us all the more hungry for success in the Gold Cup. We know all the sides
very well and we know exactly what they are capable of.
“There are no
easy matches in any of the tournaments in the UAE so we hope we can continue in
the same vein on Monday,” said Sola, who emerged as the Silver Cup’s highest
goal scorer with a total of 16 for the tournament.
H E. Saeed
Bin Houfan Al Mansouri, Vice Chairman of Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club said:
“We would like to extend our thanks to all the people who supported us today.
It was a fun, family day out and that is exactly what we hoped to achieve in
organising this match.”
Ghantoot
Racing & Polo Club would like to extend its thanks to French painter,
Remi Bertoche who
generously donated one of his works of art to the charity auction, as well
as Aigner the supporting sponsor, Media Partner, Al Medmar Magazine,
Exclusive Polo Media Partner, Polo Line International and PQ Magazine.
The Al Ain
Private Center for Care and Rehabilitation was founded in 1999 through the
personal initiative of a father of an autistic child.
The center
was established to provide basic education and care services for limited number
of children who required extra help. A non-profit, non-governmental
humanitarian organisation, the centre is currently housed in a villa with 20
classrooms to provide education and rehabilitation to 120 children.
The facility
can also house residential pupils and it currently hosts 73 children of which
33 come from GCC counties.
No comments:
Post a Comment