Aug 05, 2020
Story courtesy of Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club.
On the final day of bracket play Sunday, August 2, seven out of the eight teams had a chance to advance to the semifinals. This resulted in a competitive day of polo at Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club (Carpinteria, California) with tensions running high. There were four matches: BenSoleimani.com vs. Santa Clara, Dundas vs. Antelope, Farmers & Merchants Bank (FMB) vs. FMB Too! and Klentner Ranch vs. Lucchese.
Both Santa Clara and BenSoleimani.com were out to win it in the first game of the day. However, BenSoleimani.com had their strategy down and managed to pull ahead early in the game making the score 6-4 after the first half. They maintained this lead by tying the last two chukkers in the fourth and fifth. Finishing strong, BenSoleimani.com pulling ahead by another goal in the sixth chukker finished 12-9 over Santa Clara.
Dundas faced off against Antelope in the second game. This game was a fast, high-scoring match. Dundas started out with the lead, 8-7 after three chukkers, but Antelope pushed back and took the lead in the second half. In the end, Antelope earned their place in the semifinals 15-13.
The Farmers & Merchants Bank vs. FMB Too! game was played at Cancha de Estrellas Polo Club (Carpinteria, California) between brothers, Henry and Danny Walker. FMB needed the win so they came out hard while FMB Too! was the only team who had already qualified for the semifinals. Ultimately, the final score was 12-5 in favor of FMB.
Finally, Klentner Ranch and Lucchese battled it out on the grandstand field. Both teams gave a strong effort to capture the win and the final spot. Klentner Ranch fought hard, but Lucchese held a steady lead throughout the game and finished on top 14-11.
The Silver Cup® semifinals are scheduled for Friday, August 7 with Antelope taking on FMB at 1:00pm ET and Lucchese challenging FMB Too! at 7:00pm ET. Games will be livestreamed on Global Polo TV.
All photos ©David Lominska-SBPRC.
Effective Date: Saturday, May 16, 2020
The suspension of USPA Tournaments and Events will be lifted for USPA Member Clubs in locales where hosting polo matches and tournaments is permitted under applicable state and local laws, executive orders and similar decrees. The USPA Member Clubs in these locales are encouraged to follow all such requirements of their state and local authorities with respect to polo operations. In addition, we also encourage all USPA Member Clubs to take the precautions recommended by the CDC. We are preparing a detailed list of best practices for USPA Member Clubs as they return to hosting USPA Tournaments and Events and plan to circulate these guidelines within the next week. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely and will notify you if we determine a different course of action is necessary.
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