12th Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge concludes with a 9-6 win for Zedan Polo

Under the patronage of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the 12^th edition of the prestigious Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge concluded today with an 9-6 win for Zedan Polo. Their valiant opponents in this final were Habtoor Polo, headed up by Mohammed Al Habtoor.

HRH Princess Haya presented the impressive Cartier trophy to the Zedan team patrons Amr Zedan and Rashid Bin Drai. Cartier’s VIP guest Alessandra Ambrosio had earlier presented the La Martina Most Valuable Player of the Tournament Award to Habtoor Polo’s Santiago Gomez Romero. She also presented the Cartier Best Playing Pony Rug and a saddle to Mohammed Al Habtoor’s Sasha, which had been played by Habtoor Polo’s Tommy Iriarte. 

Some 600 Cartier guests attended this thrilling, four-chukka match, with HRH Princess Haya watching the game from the Royal Box, accompanied by HRH Princess Azemah of Brunei, Alessandra Ambrosio, Jerome Metzger, Retail Director Cartier Middle East and India and Ali Albwardy, the founder of the Desert Palm Resort and Polo Club – the home of Cartier polo in Dubai since 2006. The visitors also had a chance to view Cartier’s latest inspired collection, Cactus de Cartier. A stunning collection of yellow gold rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces, featuring additional warmth from lapis lazuli, carnelians, emeralds and diamonds.

This is the first time that Cartier has hosted its acclaimed Dubai Polo Challenge tournament in November and four 8-goal teams took part this week, featuring players from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, England, Brunei, Scotland, Argentina, and Spain. This included today’s Desert Palm Trophy players, featuring the sponsor’s own team, Cartier and the home team, Desert Palm. This subsidiary final opened today’s polo and saw a victory for Desert Palm, with HRH Princess Haya presenting the Desert Palm Trophy to HRH Prince Jefri of Brunei and Rashid Albwardy.

CARTIER INTERNATIONAL DUBAI POLO CHALLENGE 12^th EDITION TEAMS 2016

Zedan Polo Team: Amr Zedan (0); Rashid Bin Drai (0); Nico Petracchi (2); Raul Laplacette (6)          Habtoor Polo: Stuart Wrigley (0); Mohammed Al Habtoor (0); Santiago Gomez Romero (3); Tomas Iriarte (5).

Cartier: Federico von Potobsky (6); Peter Reid (-1); Haider Bangash (-1); Mario Gomez (4)

Desert Palm: HRH Prince Jefri (0); Saoud Khoory (1); Rashid Albwardy (2); Martin Valent (5).