Brabucci propels Emirates to win

Abu Dhabi: A five-goal effort by Hugo Alberto Brabucci helped Team Emirates win the Emirates Open Polo Championship 2010 at the Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club (GRPC) on Saturday evening.

The Argentine, one of the new faces here at Ghantoot who is equipped with a 7-goal handicap, was in superb form as Team Emirates scored an 8-7 win over Team Al Basti in the 5-chukka final.

Al Basti's Gonzalo Azumendi, who also scored five goals, opened the scoring and struck the only goal of the first chukka.

But Brabucci found form early in the second chukka and scored twice to ensure Team Emirates took a 2-1 lead into the third chukka.

In the third chukka, Brabucci completed his hat-trick and soon it was 4-1 when teammate Juan Manuel Roman (5-handcap) scored. Khalifa Al Hammadi pulled one back to reduce the margin 2-5.

Azumendi, who has been a regular player on the UAE circuit, scored his second goal but Brabucci added another to his tally to put them 6-3 ahead. However, Azumendi scored two goals, including a penalty, to make it 5-6. But Brabucci scored his fifth goal to give his side a 7-5 lead going into the final chukka.

Last-gasp winner

Al Basti wasted a penalty but Azumendi made amends by scoring his fifth goal and Al Basti's sixth goal. The final then turned exciting with Ignacio De Lusarreta making it 7-7 with few seconds left for the hooter. Then UAE player Ahmad Bin Desmal put the ball between the posts for what turned out to be a last-gasp winner.

The annual event was held under the patronage of Shaikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of GRPC and chairman of Emirates Polo Association.

Sponsored by Al Basti Equiworld and Charterbay, the Emirates Open Polo Championship saw four teams with polo professionals from the UAE and Argentina compete for the trophy from January 16 to 30. Hosts Ghantoot and sponsor's team Charterbay were the other two teams competing in the tournament.

Saeed Bin Houfan Al Mansouri, Vice-Chairman of the GRPC, gave away the trophies in the presence of GRPC's Assistant Managing Director Salem Abdullah Salem Al Shamsi, Executive Secretary Hassan Nasser Al Deen, Administration and Finance Manager Hisham Mohammad Ahmad and Equiworld's Arun Menon.

Teams

Emirates: Ahmed Al Nueimi (1), Ahmad Bin Desmal (1), Juan Manuel Roman (5), Hugo Alberto Brabucci (7)

Al Basti: Abdullah Bin Desmal (1), Khalifa Al Hammadi (1), Ignacio De Lusarreta (6) and Gonzalo Azumendi (6)