The Hindu : Sport / Polo : Army wins Maharaja Hari Singh Cup

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Monday, Nov 21, 2005

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Sport - Polo

Army wins Maharaja Hari Singh Cup

Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI: Argentine riders revelled under the perfect playing conditions as Santiago de Estrada and Martin Ravina steered Army to the title win in the Amby Valley Maharaja Hari Singh memorial cup 14-goal polo tournament at the Jaipur Polo Ground here on Sunday. Army defeated Majaara 12-10 in the final that swayed towards both sides till the last chukker.

Estrada scored from difficult positions after Majaara took lead early in the fourth chukker when Ravina made an uncharacteristic mistake in the middle. Ravina hit a pony when he miscued an easy shot only to see Majaara skipper Satinder Garcha grab the chance to got 5-4 ahead.

But Army allowed no more mishaps as Estrada went on to score eight goals while Ravina chipped in with three and Capt. Ravi Rathore had one to his credit. Estrada took the ball from the centre and went across before taking the ball and the pony through the posts for an equaliser (5-5).

Army then built up steady lead and it was another Argentine, Gerardo Mazzini, who made it 11-10 for Majaara with two-and-a-half minutes for the close. It could have gone either way, but Estrada came up with his eighth goal to make it 12-10 with clock showing just 30 minutes for the close. Mazzini scored seven goals for Majaara while Gracha had a brace and Vishal Singh, who fell from his pony in the third chukker and retired, scored one.

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