SEGWAY POLO: COVENTRY’S Paul Davies returned from the Segway Polo World Cup in Germany with pride in tact after helping British Wasps finish 12th in the world’s most prestigious competition.
Davies teamed up with Dave Cooling, Emma Thompson, Damian Bevan, and Brett De Gale to compete for British Wasps in the bi-annual event which features teams from across the globe.
Nations represented included Germany, Switzerland, USA, Austria, and reigning champions Barbados.
The event, which runs under the same format as regular polo, saw British Wasps seeded into a tough group.
Despite an early defeat to Switzerland’s Helvetic Vipers, wins against Barbados’ second team and X-Turtles of Germany put them in with a chance of making the quarter finals.
A narrow defeat to eventual semi-finalists Blade Pirates saw Wasps have to settle for a place in the play-off match for 11th and 12th places.
A strong performance from the British Wasps saw them hold hosts Hemer Butterflies to a 1-1 which led the game to penalties.
In the penalty shootout, Cooling was between the posts and saved Carmen Ahler’s effort to take the shootout to the final round.
After Damian Bevan’s shot was saved, Udo Puhl stepped up for Hemer and struck a thunderous shot that Cooling got a hand to, but just couldn’t keep out – meaning Hemer won.
Although disappointed with the shootout defeat, British Wasps finished as the top British team – two places ahead of Team Cornwall.
The competition was eventually won by the defending champions Team Barbados, who beat the German Mammoths team 3-1 in the final, with teams from Germany and Sweden in 3rd and 4th.
