THE Philippines’s GlobalPort made history in the World Polo League with an amazing come-from-behind win in the Tommy Hitchcock Jr. Legacy Memorial in its Triple Crown of Polo opener before a big Sunday crowd at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, Florida.
Given a ghost of a chance to rule the prestigious event after falling behind by 9 goals (12-3) in the second chukker, the team of Rep. Mikee Romero, Polito Pieres, Sapo Caset and Facundo Obregon rallied to beat Travieso, 17-13, and complete the biggest comeback in the five-year-old league.
“Great team effort, great win for GlobalPort, and a big boost for Philippine polo,” said Romero of their historic win in the highest polo tournament in the United States.
Romero and GlobalPort pulled off the historic feat on their first-time participation in the tournament.
“That made our title win a lot sweeter,” added Romero who was all praise of Caset’s incredible performance.
The talismanic Argentine, who is a 10-goaler, scored 9 in GlobalPort’s blazing comeback as he combined speed, strength and grace in catching his defenders off-guard.
He was the unanimous choice as the game’s Most Valuable Player.
Even Caset was surprised with their come-from-behind win.
“It was an incredible comeback,” he said.
Romero said they started awfully slow and cold as they allowed their rivals to 4-0 and 12-7 leads in the first half.
But with Caset shouting “Vamos! Vamos!,” Team GlobalPort woke up and put on a show with Caset and Pieres working very well in the middle, Romero in front and Obregon at back.
Slowly but surely, GlobalPort produced valiant runs before finally taking a 13-12 lead which proved huge enough to take the fight out of their rivals.
Pieres finished with seven goals as Globalport outshot Travieso, 23-14.
Hitchcock was great American polo player who was inducted posthumously into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in 1990.
He led Team USA to victory in the 1921 Westchester Cup and from 1922 to 1940, he carried a 10-goal handicap.
Playing with notable stars such as Pete Bostwick, Jock Whitney and Gerald Balding, he led four teams to the US National Open Championships in 1923 and 1927 since its inception.
