Zobel sparks San Miguel PH Polo Open victory romp

MANILA, Philippines — Iñigo Zobel got off to a swashbuckling start as San Miguel Philippines drubbed Globalport Philippines, 9-4, and bagged the inaugural championship of the Philippine Polo Open 2014 Sunday in Makati City.

Zobel fired three goals, the first two in the opening chukker of the high-goal match that San Miguel totally controlled.

“The team functioned very well,” said Zobel. “But it wasn’t easy, we just had good breaks.”

Argentinian pro Juan Jauretche, the Argentinian five-goaler who’s the highest ranked player in the finals, and San Miguel teammates Sam Hunt and Tommy Bitong scored two goals each.

In the consolation match, Ahmibah-Royal Brunei edged Tang Polo-China, 5-4, to clinch third place.

Ale Agote paced the Brunei squad with four goals, including the match-clinching penalty shot from 60 yards.

Prince Bahar Bolkiah, one of Brunei’s polo-playing royals, hit a goal like his brothers Prince Jefri and Prince Qawi.

A pair of Rodrigo Bauzada goals put Globalport on the scoreboard, 4-2, after Hunt and Jauretche broke through in the first two minutes of the second chukker and gave San Miguel a comfortable lead.

San Miguel continued to pull away with Jauretche nailing a penalty shot from 30 yards and Zobel hitting another off Hunt’s back shot in the third of the five-chukker finale.

“We played together and our horses worked well,” said Zobel. “Their (Globalport) teamwork didn’t work, too.”

Santi Juban had to fill in for Globalport playing-team owner Mikee Romero, who begged off from seeing action following the death of his maternal grandfather Miguel Lagman.

Bauzada and fellow Argentinian Gaston Beguerie finished with two goals each for Globalport, while Thai player Top Srivaddhanaprabha completed the quartet.

Bitong, the youngest player in the tournament at 13 years old, scored two goals in the fourth chukker that padded San Miguel’s dominant run, 8-3.

Jauretche also had an injury scare as he fell off his horse following a collision at the 4:22 mark of the first chukker that halted the match for almost five minutes.

But Jauretche got up and hit his first goal inside the first two minutes of the second chukker.

Both San Miguel and Globalport headed into the finals unbeaten after posting 2-0 sweeps in their respective brackets of the elimination round.