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E V E N T N A M E L O C A T I O N D A T E
A C T I O N
KARL UDE-MARTINEZ
K I N G P O W E R G O L D C U P F O R T H E B R I T I S H O P E N , C O W D R A Y P A R K P O L O C L U B , W E S T S U S S E X , U K , J U L Y 2 0 1 8
G O L D C U P F O R T H E B R I T I S H O P E N
Almost 10,000 spectators watched El Remanso storm to victory at Cowdray
Park in one of the most thrilling finals of recent times, says Liz Higgins
The Hanbury family’s popular El Remanso
team of all English players, based locally on
the Cowdray estate, had come through the
league phase of the British Open without
losing a game and went straight to quarter
finals along with Park Place, La Bamba de
Areco and Valiente. An innovative penalty
shoot-out and draw determined the
remaining quarter finalists.
Once more, success came for El
Remanso in the quarter finals sending them
through to meet tough opponents La Indiana
in the semi-finals. Both semi-final games
gave spectators a feast of polo with the El
Remanso-La Indiana match going into a
nail-biting seventh chukka, ending with a
brilliant pick-up by El Remanso’s Ollie
Cudmore, which saw him shoot the winning
goal for a thrilling 14–13 victory. Jean-
François Decaux’s La Bamba de Areco side
outgunned RH Polo in their semi final and so
it was game-on for the final.
El Remanso played to the same close-knit
line-up of Charlie Hanbury (4 goals) and
6-goal players Ollie Cudmore,James Beim
and James Harper as in 2017 when they lost
the Gold Cup final to King Power.Jean-
François Decaux’s La Bamba de Areco had
3-goal player Byron Watson, with Polito Pieres
substituting for an injured David Stirling and
10-goaler Juan Martín Nero at Back.
Charlie Hanbury, playing the match of his
life, stormed away from the first throw-in to
