UAE Polo Team Proudly Lifted the Standard Chartered Gold Cup 2020 Trophy

06 March 2020, Dubai, UAE: The Dubai Open 2020 declared its two-time champion - UAE Polo team - lead by its patron Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The final day of the Standard Chartered Gold Cup 2020 was filled with polo action, live entertainment, grand prizes and fun for all the spectators. 

The first match of the afternoon was between Abu Dhabi Polo and Habtoor Polo teams at the Bentley Cup. The game was neck and neck game as both teams played equally strong. Abu Dhabi had taken the lead in the first chukker and levelled out the score at the end of the second.  Mohammed Al Habtoor, the patron of the Habtoor Polo, stole the ball from Alfredo Cappella and took the lead for the team.

The succeeding minutes saw one goal after the other, and both teams were tied close to halftime until Martin Podesta closed the chukker with a lead for Habtoor Polo. The fourth chukker Facundo Sola created a three-goal advantage for Habtoor Polo. By mid of the final chukker, Martin Podesta scored the 11th goal for the team which Abu Dhabi Polo was not able to catch up on throughout the fifth chukker. The Bentley Cup ended with a final score of 11 - 7 in favour of Habtoor Polo.
 
Match Progression: 2 - 1 | 4 - 4 | 6 - 7 | 7 - 10 | 7 - 11
Top scorer: Facundo Sola, Habtoor Polo, 6 goals
Match Replay

The festivities for the guests included cheerleader and acrobatic shows, a fashion show by Walid Atallah, and the Dubai Police Marching Band performed the UAE National Anthem before the Standard Chartered Gold Cup final. Ali Hammad, Market Head, Private Banking, MENA threw the ball to open the game.

The final featured the 2019 Dubai Open champion - UAE Polo team up against AM - UAE Polo, a team that made its debut to high-goal polo this season. AM - UAE Polo had a strong start that continued through to the end of the second chukker. The Panelo brothers took the lead for the first time during the third chukker but, Ignacio Acuña scored a last-second goal that settled the game at 5 goals. The penultimate chukker continued to be a close game with three quick back to back goals that kicked up UAE Polo's lead. The determining chukker saw UAE Polo team successfully defend its position and secured the win at 10 goals to 8.

Match Progression: 1 - 2 | 3 - 4 | 5 - 5 | 8 - 6 | 10 - 8
Top Scorers: Tommy Beresford & Tomas Panelo, UAE Polo, goals
Match Replay

H.E. Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Channel; Rashid Al Habtoor, CEO & President of Al Habtoor Trading Enterprises; Joseph Tayyar, General Manager of Al Habtoor Motors Prestige Division and Ali Hammad, Market Head, Private Banking MENA of Standard Chartered Bank had awarded the teams, players, and umpires. A total of AED 500,000 was awarded by the Dubai Sports Council to the winners of the Bentley Cup and Standard Chartered Gold Cup 2020:

UAE Polo: Standard Chartered Gold Cup 2020 Winner
AM - UAE Polo: Runner Up
Habtoor Polo: Bentley Cup 2020 Winner
Abu Dhabi Polo: Runner-up

Jacinto Crotto is the Most Valuable Player and the Best Playing Playing Pony is Nobu, played by Tomas Panelo.

 

About Standard Chartered Private Bank – Title Sponsor

Standard Chartered Private Bank provides private banking services to clients across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, through onshore booking centres in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, India, London, and Jersey. The company also offers global Trust and Fiduciary capabilities through its Singapore centre. Its aspiration of being the private bank of choice among generations of entrepreneurs is built on Standard Chartered’s inherent strengths: a heritage of some 160 years in international banking, a presence in 60 of the world’s most dynamic markets, and a strong understanding of growth markets.

Bentley Emirates  – Main Sponsor

Bentley Emirates, part of Al Habtoor Motors, the official dealer of Bentley in the UAE is the largest Bentley Dealer in the world. Driven by professionalism, quality and high standards of customer service, Bentley Emirates continues to serve with utmost confidence and is poised to scale even greater heights.

U.S. Polo Assn. – Official Apparel Sponsor

U.S. Polo Assn. is proud to be the official apparel partner of the Dubai Gold Cup. The brand not only designs custom performance jerseys worn by some of the teams competing in the tournament, but also sells its product in Dubai and 180 countries around the world. 

About the Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series

Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series was founded in 2009 by Mohammed Al Habtoor, patron of the Habtoor Polo team. Growing rapidly every year, the Gold Cup (Dubai Open) was recognised by the World Polo Tour (WPT); in January 2014, the WPT committee credited the Gold Cup tournament as the highest competition in terms of points within the WPT Challenge Cup category, elevating it to 50 points for the winner. 2015 marked the first time ever that the WPT upgraded the Gold Cup Tournament from ‘Challenge Cup’ to the highly coveted ‘WPT Cup’, resulting in winners receiving 60 points. In 2017, the tournament was moved up to WPT Championship Cup – the highest competition point-wise, awarding its winners with 125 points. The Silver Cup is ranked under the WPT Cup category, with 50 points for winners and the Dubai Challenge Cup falls under the WPT Challenge Cup Category, awarding its winners with 20 points. Dubai Gold Cup Series is proud to be the only tournament series with this exclusive accreditation in the GCC and MENA Region, ranking it among the best polo tournaments worldwide.