Good afternoon to the Polo Passionate… us supporters – after hanging most of our luggage out to dry – were out, up and at’em early this morning, basking in glorious sunshine.
News from the Athletes Village!! Gallin has been fustrated by the amount of cabbage served – not part of his diet! Matt Fletcher rushed to A&E (to remove a parasitic beast from his torso (tick!) Local real artist making a ‘killing’ selling ‘live’ polo paintings to several GB supporters.
The main business of the day was the remainder of the group games… A real test of supporters nerve, courage and flag waving! (One dedicated fan sustained a repetitive strain injury needing attention from the first aid station – see photo)
The U21 men started early against Italy. Sun shone, Italians looked gorgeous, but George and Suryan were both on target and GB won 4-3, progressing to the top pool. The women played Poland next, Nicole opened the score sheet and our girls slotted in 4 to no response. The men’s crunch match was against Italy (do or die game) half time was 4-3 to Italy, with a selection of Montgomery goals, but 3 very annoying penalties to Italy showed their superiority in theatrical performance (Luca productions!) this left GB coaches wondering if our lads should be booked into drama school? Game finished 8-4 down, leaving some very dejected athletes. This result put the Men into the lower pool and the first match here against Hungary was a 7-2 win.
U21 men had a very organised game against Netherlands. The lads pulled their way back from 1-0 down, securing a 3-1 win and giving them a good chance of a semi-final place. They play Germany at 15:45 tomorrow, local time. U21 women spent a difficult time battling against the French, goals from Holly, Rhian and Beth were sadly not enough, with France winning 11-5. The women topped group B and went into round 2 with matches against Netherlands (lost 5-4), and Switzerland (draw 2-2). Weirdly these 2 matches are repeated tomorrow for a chance of a semi final place.
The afternoon was spent relaxing in the sunshine, capturing shots of intense training talks (see photos) and mascot mischief (see photo).
Tune in tomorrow, for more news!