Adolfo Cambiaso has just turned 49 and was victorious nine times in the US Open. Still in his prime, he will play the most important polo match of the United States for the second consecutive year. Following the loss against Park Place, in 2023, Valiente will aim to reach the top on Sunday when they will go head-to-head against La Dolfina at the National Polo Center. It seems quite odd to see Adolfo Cambiaso as a contender of the team he created, but that’s how things are; moreover, his son, Poroto, will be a part of that lineup, marking the third time father and son will clash in a final of the current Gauntlet of Polo.
“I was far for dreaming a season like this, with both teams in the three finals”, Adolfo Cambiaso secures in conversation with PoloLine. He adds: “Behind La Dolfina and Valiente there’s a big organisation of many years, with people who work all year long to achieve the goals”.
Valiente claimed the US Open twice, in 2015 and 2017, and in both occasions led by the Bob Jornayvaz-Adolfo Cambiaso duo. Now, despite a remarkable 2024 in terms of sport, the party is not complete at all for the Cañuelas-born player, after Bob Jornayvaz’s heavy fall on April 8, in the second chukka of the match against Dutta Corp. Since then on, Bob Jornayvaz is under intensive care. “I was enjoying the season until Bob’s fall, and since that moment, nothing has been the same and nothing has been enjoyable until he is good”, says Adolfito.
But action went on, and following Valiente’s and La Dolfina’s wins in semifinals, against Pilot and Coca Cola, respectively, both lineups will clash to decide the champion of the US Open on Sunday at 4pm (local time), in the third final that will see the two of them in the 2024 Gauntlet of Polo: Valiente ran out the champions of the CV Whitney Cup, and La Dolfina, under the name La Dolfina Tonkawa, claimed the USPA Gold Cup. With a bittersweet feeling, Adolfo Cambiaso says: “Honestly, I don’t think in the game very much, I think in Bob and today Valiente is playing because his family want it and is what Bob would have liked, to keep on playing”.
Adolfo Cambiaso and Bob Jornayvaz not only succedded in the United States, but also in England, Spain and Argentina, where they won the Jockey Club Open, in 2017. The two of them made the bond between Valiente and La Dolfina one of the most successful patnerships within polo worldwide in this millenium. Bob Jornayvaz retired from high goal for a couple of years. In 2022, a comeback started to develop slowly and in 2023 he was back on the saddle to play high goal again. A victorious comeback, indeed, that included a win in the CV Whitney Cup. “The best we can do for Bob is to put his organisation on top along with La Dolfina; because Valiente and La Dolfina are the same organisation”.
FINAL US OPEN POLO CHAMPIONSHIP: VALIENTE VS LA DOLFINA
VALIENTE: Adolfo Cambiaso 10, Peke González 7, Paco de Narváez 5, JoaquÃn Vilgré Lamadrid 0. Total: 22.
LA DOLFINA: Alejandro Aznar 0, Rufino Merlos 3, Poroto Cambiaso 10, Tomás Panelo 9. Total: 22.
TIME: Sunday April 21, 4pm (US EST time).
FIELD: US Polo Assn. Field, National Polo Center.
STREAMING: USPA POLO NETWORK (YouTube).