Ghantoot Remain Undefeated In Dubai Silver Cup With Convincing Victory Over Bin Drai

Facundo Sola Claims Five of Abu Dhabi Side’s Nine Goals

Ghantoot Polo’s Argentine professional, Facundo Sola scored an impressive five goals in his side’s 9- 5 win over Bin Drai in their second Dubai Silver Cup qualifier match this afternoon.

The Abu Dhabi side, which is based at Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club and competes under the patronage of Club Chairman, HH Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, won their opening Silver Cup match against city rivals, Abu Dhabi Polo earlier this week in an 11-10 thriller.

Now the side have won a place in the Dubai Silver Cup semi-final after a smooth display of polo against a competent Bin Drai side.

Bin Drai started well, finishing the first chukker with a 3-2 lead but it was not long before Ghantoot Polo’s Sola made his presence felt.

Fresh from a seven-goal haul in his side’s opening game, he soon got into his stride, scoring his first two goals, one from a penalty in the first chukker. He went on to score three more in the second period, burying two more penalties to achieve his five-goal total.

Bin Drai could only answer with a single goal while Emirati, Ali Al Marri also found his way onto the score sheet with a goal just before the end of the second chukker, to give Ghantoot Polo a two-goal lead for 4-6.

Ghantoot Polo’s Pelayo Berazadi was the only goal scorer in the third chukker, extending his side’s lead to 4-7.

In the fourth and final period, Berazadi notched twice more, while Bin Drai could only score once to end the game with a 5-9 Ghantoot Polo victory.

Ali Al Marri, Ghantoot Polo’s Emirati player said he hoped his side could still show more improvement as the tournament continues.

“It was a great game today and we played really well,” he said. “The third and fourth chukkers were really good examples of open and fast-paced polo and that type of play is exactly what we are hoping to continue into our next games.

 

“We couldn’t have got a better start to the tournament and now we just hope that we will get through the semi-finals and hit our peak in the final.”


Next up Ghantoot Polo will meet Saudi Arabian team, Zedan Polo on Friday, before the semi-finals which take place on Tuesday February 12.