THE Philippine National Federation of Polo Players (PNFPP) showed continued improvement, with GlobalPort-PH placing second to Thailand in the 5th All Asia Cup 2020 at the VS Sports Club & Siam Polo Park in Preng.
The national polo team, bronze medalist in the Southeast Asian Games, dropping its initial game against Thailand, but the team of Anthony Garcia, Adrian Garcia, Robert Esguerra and Mikee Romero bounced back and beat Brunei, 10-9, in a tense quarterfinal clash.
The Nationals then played their best game in the week-long tournament by downing Indonesia, 8-5.5 to secure their first finals appearance in the event that gathered some of the rich and famous of the region, including Brunei’s Princess Azemah Bolkiah and Prince Bahar, Shilai Liu and the billionaire Srivaddhanaprabha siblings – Apichet and Aiyawatt – of Thailand.
In last year’s SEA Games, Indonesia beat the Philippine team, 9-4.5.
Also taking part in the event were China and Korea.
PNFPP founding director and House Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero was very pleased with the team’s performance against Southeast Asian rivals.
“Up against some of the best teams in the Asian region, we proved we can be at par with them,” said Romero, also a member of the Philippine team that bagged bronze in the SEA Games polo at Miguel Romero Field in Calatagan, Batangas.
“Given more time to train and play in various tournaments abroad, I strongly believe we can play much better the next time,” added Romero. “The chemistry is there so we just have to sustain it.”
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