Globalport polo fires off in Calatagan

MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel and Globalport tackle separate opponents at the start of the 2015 Globalport Philippine Polo Championship Tuesday in different venues in Batangas.

Mikee Romero’s Globalport, reinforced by Argentineans Mariano Obregon and Santi Lujan, is slightly favored over Polo Escape in their 2:30 p.m. clash. The fourth member of Globalport is long-hitting Adrian Garcia, known for his all-around game.

Iñigo Zobel’s San Miguel takes on Los Tamaraos at 3:30 p.m.

With all six participating teams—the other two are Tang Polo-China and Thailand’s King Power—playing only two games in the eliminations, Romero said they must start strong.

“We have to play smart to achieve our goal which is to win convincingly. If we win by a big margin, our desire to win the title will also increase,” said Romero, who lured anew some of the richest and influential businessmen in the Asian region.

With Zobel scoring two early goals, San Miguel won the Philippine Open Polo Championship last year over Globalport, 9-4.

Like Globalport, San Miguel is also beefed up by Argentineans Gregorio Gelosi and Guillermo Cavanagh. The other member of the team is Alfie Araneta.

Leading Polo Escape are Robin Lourvanijo and Miguel Ayala while Cole Aguirre, Gus Aguirre and Lucas James will spearhead Los Tamaraos.

The six teams will be divided into two zones with Globalport-Philippines, Tang Polo-China and Polo Escape-Thailand comprising Zone 1 while Zone II will have San Miguel, King Power-Thailand/UK and Tamaraos-Australia. The top finishers clash in the finals on Sunday.