Dubai: The Julius Baer Team by Habtoor Polo and Bin Drai became the first two teams to qualify for the semi-finals of the Julius Baer Gold Cup 2015 on Tuesday.
The sponsor’s team secured their third win on the trot with a 7-6 result over Mahra, while Bin Drai were just too good for Edrees to also maintain an unbeaten run to advance to the last-four stage.
In a clash between the Al Habtoor brothers — Mohammad and Rashid — it was the Julius Baer Team led by Mohammad that played a great second half to get past Mahra.
Patron Rashid’s team had a good start, but once his brother’s side got themselves going there was no stopping them. Making the difference was three consecutive goals, two by Guillermo Cuitino and one by Santiago Cernadas, which gave Julius Baer the advantage at the end of the fourth chukka.
Mahra Polo did not give up until the end as they came within a goal and exerted considerable pressure, only to fall short.
In the second match, Bin Drai’s patron Saeed Bin Drai finally achieved a 7-6 victory.
After sharing the spoils 1-1 after the first chukka, Bin Drai went clear 4-2 in the second and maintained the same margin at the end of the third.
In the penultimate chukka, they were clear 6-4 and ultimately held on to win 7-6.