Stirling performance lifts Whites in Enzo Polo Cup

It was just a perfect day for polo – with clear afternoon skies, a well-kept field, a big, gorgeous crowd, great ponies and some world-class players.

With all these ingredients around, the annual Enrique Zobel Memorial Polo Cup held yesterday at the swanky and highly-exclusive Manila Polo Club, as expected, did turn out to be a huge success.

The Zobels, Aranetas, Cojuangcos, Yulos and Elizaldes were there, along with Manila’s finest, each enjoying some great action and the warm company of family and friends.

The affair, held in memory of the late tycoon, started at 2 p.m. and was capped with a parade of modern and exotic Porsche vehicles, and cocktails of roasted calf, fine wine and good music by sundown.

On the field, the Whites composed of Iñigo Zobel, Mark Austin, David Stirling and Mark Field lorded it over the Blues made up of Bobby Aguirre, Dino Santos, Jose Donoso and Anthony Garcia.

Right from the start of the high-goal match, played on six chukkers of seven minutes each, the Whites, despite a lower handicap (13-14) proved to be the better team.

With the younger Zobel providing the leadership, Austin the needed support, Stirling the excellent plays, and Field the most number of goals with six, White prevailed, 17-8.

But neither the score nor the final result mirrored the excitement of the game, how great it was played, and how fast and furious the action was.

In the end, it seemed nobody cared about who won or lost as the crowd, both young and old, most of them wearing the most fashionable sunglasses, applauded the players.

While Field played a lot better than his four-goal handicap, it was Stirling of Uruguay who electrified the crowd with his world-class moves on a borrowed pony. He had a goal in the opening chukker, one each on the second and third, and another on the sixth and last. Stirling treated the crowd with his unbelievable dribbling skills in scoring his second goal for the match. He was so good with his eye-hand coordination. In one long run, he carried the ball with his mallet as if it had a net on it. Stirling was named the Most Valuable Player.

Field, an Australian who’s been visiting the Philippines for 10 years now, bringing in horses for local polo aficionados, said their teamwork spelled the difference.

"I had six goals because I had a good team around me and that counted in the end. I guess we just displayed better teamwork that’s why we scored more goals. The Blue team played well but not as a team. In team sport, better teamwork normally wins," he said.

But even in defeat, the Blues had some shining moments, especially Donoso, another seven-goaler from Chile, who came to the match as a personal guest of Aguirre, the prominent Filipino debonaire.

In the low-goal match featuring a round-robin among three teams, the Whites composed of Gusi Aguirre, Jerome Hernandez, Tonio Veloso and Dondi Santos also prevailed over the Blues and the Yellows.

It was a well-fought contest, the Blues of Adrian Garcia, Alfie Araneta, Jose Constantino and Jun Juban, and the Yellows of Osang Yulo, Edwin Arce, Santi Elizalde and Ace "Samurai Warrior" Suzuki, were all winners just the same.

That’s just the way polo, the sport of Kings, is played. Everybody is a winner.