Dubai Polo Gold Cup Finals
Friday the 13th was the final of the Julius Bär Dubai Polo Gold Cup and it was an excellent day, which I had looked forward to for a long time. The weather was perfect, the company was great and the polo matches were fast and furious and very exciting. This was my third time attending this event in Dubai, which in my opinion is the highlight of the octal calendar and I hope to be able to come back every year.
Mahra and Abu Dhabi ready to start their match.
The first match was between Team Mahra and Team Abu Dhabi. Mahra had the lead after the first chukker, but the following four chukkers were a battle to say the least. The second chukker the teams were tied at 2 goals, by the end of the third chukker Mahra took the lead again only to be overtaken by the Abu Dhabi team in the fourth chukker. The fifth chukker was equal for some time, but at the end Abu Dhabi won with 2 goals making it 7-5 to Abu Dhabi.
Mahra and Abu Dhabi
Mohammed Al Habtoor patron of the Julius Bär team watching his brother on the field
In between the matches there was lots of entertainment in the form of a camel show, carrying the flags of the nations of the players, cheerleaders and acrobats took the playing field to showcase their performance, famous fashion designer Iman Lopez had her beautiful and exclusive designs shown and the skilled skydivers from Skydive Dubai fell and flew at 100 km/h towards us in and delivered the ball for the first throw-in of the final match.
The Camel Parade, with flags from all of the countries of the participating players
Me as the camels passed by for the second time
The acrobatic show
Cheerleaders showing their flexibility between the matches
One of Iman Lopez’s beautiful designs
Skydivers gave us a show with colored smoke forming the UAE flag
Skydivers came flying in with the ball for the match
The Gold Lounge
The Gold Lounge where spectators could enjoy drinks while watching the match
The final match between Zedan and Bin Drai was very exciting to say the least. It was a tough match with two excellent teams, but the 10-goaler polo superstar Pablo MacDonough made sure his team Zedan was in the lead from start to finish, although team Bin Drai did put up a fight and in the last minutes of the fifth and last chukker the teams were at equal points, but two consecutive (and beautiful) gold by the superstar himself in the last minute of play gave team Zedan the title of winners of the Julius Bär Dubai Polo Gold Cup 2015.
Team Bin Drai ready to play
Team Zedan ready to play
Zedan and Bin Drai battling for the ball
Pablo MacDonough making a sharp turn on his horse
Zedan receiving their trophy
My good friend Guillermo Cuitiño and I. Guille played for the Julius Bär by Habtoor Polo Team
After the trophy ceremony celebrations were in order, The Gold Lounge had drinks, music and dancing until 10 pm where the party was moved to XL Dubai at The Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa concluding an excellent and eventful day with a fun night of dancing and celebrations.
