Dec 5, 20202 min read

A.M Polo Is Here To Stay, Wins UAE National Day Cup 2020

Updated: Dec 7, 2020

The UAE National Day Cup 2020, held in honour of the country’s 49th year of the Spirit of the Union, had seven teams compete on the fields of Al Habtoor Polo Resort and Club; Mohammed Al Habtoor’s Habtoor Polo, Rashid Al Habtoor’s Mahra Polo, HRH Sheikha Maitha Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s UAE Polo, Sheikha Alia Al Maktoum’s A.M Polo, Khalid Al Omran’s Ankora Polo, Khalid Bin Drai’s Bin Drai Polo and Noor AbuKhadra’s GreenGates Polo.

The Qualifying matches resulted into a Subsidiary Final between Mahra Polo and Ankora Polo; and AM Polo faced Green Gates Polo team at the Final Match, A.M and GreenGates being the newest Polo Teams in the Dubai Polo scene, and with the youngest Patrons, both well under the age of 25, if not 21.

Ankora will take the lead in the first chukker with 4 goals, with Mahra trailing by 2. Both teams are long overdue for a major title, and the breakthrough will come to Mahra as they closed the gap by the end of the third chukker, 5 goals to 4, still in favour of Ankora. Though Mahra’s defense showed great improvement, Ankora’s aggression is usually unrivalled with the combined offensive plays of Von Potobsky and Malacalza. The game ended 8 goals to 5 in favour of Ankora Polo.

Prior to the start of the final match, AM Polo and GreenGates Polo teams proudly paraded the UAE Flag followed by the UAE National Anthem. This game is a matchup of the league’s top two rushing attacks. If it is close into the fourth chukker, it will come down to which team is able to outwit the other. GreenGates in quick explosive plays, signature of Crespo plays, maintained the lead until the end of the second chukker at 3 goals to nil.

The father-son combination of Tomy and Santos Iriarte comes into play at this point, and the experience of Tomy Iriarte is highly called into play. A.M Polo holds the forte until the dying seconds of the fourth and final chukker, when Tomy Iriarte in a quick rush play scores the final goal that puts A.M over by just half a goal.