USA Wins Bendabout International Cup

  • Monday, September 22, 2014
  • David Davis

The USA team held off a team from Mexico to win the second Bendabout International Cup by a score of 11 goals to 10. The Sunday afternoon match of 18-goal polo was the culmination of two weekends of exhibition play at Bendabout Farm located south of Cleveland, Tennessee, in McDonald.

 

Watching the highest level of polo played in North America was a treat to the nearly 2,000 people who filled the bleachers and sat in lawn chairs along the field.

This was the second year of cup play at the farm. USA beat South Africa 11-10 in 2013 to win the inaugural cup. The cup will be displayed for the next 12 months in the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in Wellington, Florida.

 

Julio Arellano (No. 4) led the American team to victory with eight of the team’s 11 goals. Gillian Johnston (No. 1) contributed twice and Whistle Uys (No. 3) knocked one between the goal posts. James P. Uihlein (No. 2) took a defensive posture and did not score.

 

For the Mexican team, J.J. Celis (No. 1), Hector Galindo (No. 3) and Horacio Onetto (No. 4) each scored three goals and Armando Huerta (No. 2) added one.

 

Uys, of Franklin, Tennessee, said he did not feel the game was put safely away until the final 10 seconds. “Until the last 10 seconds, no. Seriously, no. This is the hardest game I’ve played at Bendabout. It was very physical.”

 

The game got off to a quick start with the USA team scoring the first goal.

 

“We kind of knew it was serious, real serious, because yesterday (Saturday) they whipped us. They beat us 12-5. We had a really good first chukka, but after that, we didn’t have any good chukkas,” he said. “Today we knew we had to try to win every single chukka instead of having an outlook for the whole game. We just played hard and every time we got up, they’d score a couple of goals and they’d be right there with us.”

 

Arellano, of Aiken, South Carolina, is the best American player with a nine-goal rating. Uys, 36, carries a five-goal handicap. He has played professionally since 2002 and is still working his way up through the professional ranks. He said the Mexicans were all good players who have played good polo for years.

 

“What we didn’t do yesterday was turn enough for backshot and today we just turned whether they came or not and they came, which was great,” he said. “And we had a different strategy. James P. played defense today and he was amazing, he was really good and I think that helped us a lot.”

 

Uys said part of the strategy included the use of horses. He reserved his best horse until the fifth chukka because he knew one of the Mexican players was going to come out in that period on a very good horse.

 

“We kind of bulked up the fourth and fifth. In those periods I was really well mounted — and so was Julio and Gillian — so that really helped us a lot,” he said.

 

The score was tied going into the fourth chukka, but the home team led 8-6 going into the fifth. They could only manage one goal in the fifth while the visitors added two to make the score 9-8 going into the sixth and final chukka. Both teams added two goals in the last period and the game ended 11-10 in the Americans’ favor.

 

The number of penalty shots was about even, but the USA team converted more, which contributed to the win.

 

There was a time in the third chukka when Uys thought the game was in jeopardy of being lost. “I thought man, this is going to be a long second half, but in the second half we scored three good goals and then we kind of caught a breather.”

 

The first chukka was hard fought because everyone came out on good horses and neither side eased off on the other. The USA team was up one going into the sixth chukka and scored quickly, but the visitors scored twice to come within one point.

 

“I missed a backshot and Hector scored it. That put them within one and then time ran out,” Uys said. “If they’d had another two minutes, there’s no saying how the game would have turned out.”

 

Arellano was named Player of the Game and Honda, owned by Johnston, was selected as the Best Horse.


Latest Headlines
Sports
Chattanooga Women Third At Spring Break Shootout
  • 3/18/2024

The Chattanooga Mocs got off to a solid start at the Spring Break Shootout. The ladies are 4 under on Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club’s South Course carding 280 over the opening 18 and 284 ... more

Sweetwater's Keke Norfolk Signs With Cleveland State
Sweetwater's Keke Norfolk Signs With Cleveland State
  • 3/18/2024

Keke Norfolk of Sweetwater High School signed a National Letter of Intent with the Cleveland State women’s basketball team this past week. Norfolk a 5’9” guard/forward, becomes the first signee ... more

Vol Baseball Win Streak Ends At 17 At Alabama
  • 3/18/2024

No. 5/5 Tennessee's 17-game winning streak came to an end with a 6-3 loss to No. 12/14 Alabama on Saturday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide (16-3, 1-1 SEC) ... more