Teams all set to play in Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge 2013

Desert Palm Retreat and Polo Club   February 18 - 22 February 2013

The Cartier Team

CNN Polo Team

The four pro-am teams in the Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge were at Desert Palm this evening for the event’s official opening ceremony and shirt presentations. Players, patrons and sponsors mingled in the hotel’s newly opened Polo Bar, all keen to discuss the next four days of fast paced polo. Among the players was the Cartier team patron Adriano Agosti, who already has a great record in Cartier events, having won the Cartier International titles in both Dubai and China in 2012.

This year sees a new member of the Desert Palm team,  HH Sheikha Maitha Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Although this daughter of the Ruler of Dubai was unable to attend this opening ceremony she will be in action tomorrow in Desert Palm’s first game of the 2013 season. They face the title sponsors Cartier, and as Louis Ferla, Managing Director of Cartier Middle East said in his welcome address: “May the best team win!”

Desert Palm Polo

Emirates NBD Polo Team

The Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge is held under the patronage of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.  Every match will be played at Ali Albwardy's beautiful Desert Palm estate, home to one of Dubai’s premier boutique retreats, Desert Palm by Per AQUUM. To ensure that the players’ and ponies’ style is as elegant as their play, La Martina has been reappointed as the Official Team Kit Supplier, while the Porsche Centre Dubai, in its role as Official Car Supplier, will see that both VIPs and players arrive on time. Pommery returns too in 2013, hosting the Pommery Champagne Reception after Friday’s finals – always the perfect way to conclude a magnificent tournament.

All images thank to Images of Polo

CARTIER INTERNATIONAL DUBAI POLO CHALLENGE TEAMS 2013

Cartier: Adriano Agosti (CH) 0; Saeed Bin Drai (UAE) 0; Mariano Uranga (ARG) 6; Juan Jose Brane (ARG) 7.

Emirates NBD: Amr Zedan (KSA) 0; Saad Audeh (JOR) 0; Ignacio Heguy (ARG) 9; Rodolfo Ducos (ARG) 4.

CNN: Faris Al Yabhouni (UAE) 0; Jonathan Munro Ford (AUS) -1; Juan Ambroggio (ARG)7; Chris Hyde (UK) 6.

Desert Palm:  HH Sheikha Maitha Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (UAE)0;Guillermo Healy (1); Martin Valent (ARG) 5;Facundo Castagnola (ARG) 6.