US OPEN Polo Champions Zacara win first 2 of 2 in Queen's Cup Polo Tournament at Guards Polo Club

By Alex Webbe

Zacara sugared their chances for a Cartier Queens Cup title by scoring a hard-fought 11-10 win over a powerful Les Lions team in the second round of play on Field 2 at the Guards Polo Club in London, England.

Les Lions made a big splash last week when they hammered EFG Bank Aravali 17-9 in their opening Queens Cup match, but had an uphill battle Monday afternoon as they faced a powerful Zacara team that was led by Argentine 10-goaler Facundo Pieres and Brazilian 8-goaler Rodrigo Andrade.

The teams were greeted by a partly sunny day chilled by fifty degree temperatures.  Zacara took an early 2-0 lead, but by the end of the second chukker it was all even at 4-4.  A Zacara push gave them a narrow 6-5 halftime lead as the two teams battled for supremacy on the manicured field of the Guards Polo Club.

The two teams continued to press their attacks while playing disciplined defensive games.  Andrade reinforced his defensive credentials with a number of backhanders that kept Zacara out of trouble while Agustin and Sebastian Merlos continued to fuel the Les Lions attack.

Zacara managed to extend their lead to two goals, 10-8, going into the final chukker, but Les Lions continued to attack.  Les Lions managed to outscore Zacara in the final chukker, 2-1, but came up short as Zacara rode off with the 11-10 win.

The victory gives Zacara a 2-0 record while Les Lions sits at 1-1.

Cartier Queens Cup play will continue on Wednesday at noon in the only tournament game of the day when Sumaya (Ahmad Aboughazale. Facundo Sola, Hilario Ulloa and Tomas Garbarini) meets HB Polo (Ludovic Pailloncy, Ignacio Toccalino, Pite Merlos and Sebastian Pailloncy) on the Coworth field.

Both Sumaya and HB Polo are winless in their only starts of the season.  Sumaya lost an overtime battle against Cortium while HB Polo was beaten by Talandracas, 11-9.

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