The much anticipated 132nd. Argentine Polo Open Championship commenced on Saturday November 1, with double action, at Palermo, that saw UAE and Sol de Agosto as the winners over La Zeta Kazak and Los Machitos, respectively. It’s worth to say, that it was a first matchdate to remember for the 2025 Argentine Open, plenty of drama and suspense, and even an extra chukka.
UAE and La Zeta Kazak opened fire on ground 2. For the former, it was a crucial contest, since they lost the Hurlingham Open final and the Tortugas Open semifinal, so they were in need of a win to maintain their hopes alive. In order to reach their goal, UAE got off to a great start by claiming the first chukka 3-1; but perhaps they didn’t expect the match would be so tough. La Zeta Kazak, in their second consecutive Argentine Open coming from the Qualification Tournament, were determined to give UAE some headaches, and played a remarkable first part, while UAE struggled to stay in the game. Lorenzo Chavanne, Facundo Llosa and Pelon Stirling were crucial for the Argentinian-French organisation, who reached a 7-6 lead by half time.
But UAE bounced back in the two following chukkas. Lukin Monteverde tied at 7-all in the fifth chukka, but La Zeta Kazak re-took the lead thanks to a penalty conversion by Lorenzo Chavanne. However, the sixth chukka belonged to UAE – they outscored La Zeta Kazak 4-0 to extend their advantage to 11-8. Although Polito Pieres scored to secure UAE a 12-8 lead in the seventh chukka, La Zeta Kazak never surrendered – two goals by Lorenzo Chavanne closed the gap to two goals (10-12) with only one chukka left.
And there would be plenty of drama to come in the last chukka. Pelón Stirling produced a remarkable goal followed by another by Lorenzo Chavanne. That meant that with a bit more of one minute remaining in the clock, the match was on fire, tied at 12-all. But at the end of the day, luck was on UAE’s side – Tomás Panelo managed to find the flags in the last second to seal the deal. In a very intense and dramatic contest, UAE claimed a hard fought 13-12 win over a very tough contender like La Zeta Kazak.
Sol de Agosto and Los Machitos closed a fantastic first day of the Argentine Open, in another contest to remember. A match that had an extraordinary first half, that saw no less than eight goals in the second chukka, and reached a 9-all by half time.
After four consecutive ties, Sol de Agosto claimed the lead in the fifth chukka with goals by Facundo Sola, Paquito de Narvaez (2) and Benjamin Panelo. Halfway that fifth chukka, Diego Cavanagh scored for Los Machitos followed by a fabulous neckshot goal from Teo Lacau’s stick. Now, Sol de Agosto was 13-11 up, and by the way, the first chukka that didn’t end with a tie. A scoreless sixth chukka would follow, but action came back in the seventh chukka, thanks to the young and exremely talented Paquito de Narvaez and Torito Ruiz. With only one chukka left, Sol de Agosto had taken a 15-12 lead.
A hotter than hell last chukka would follow – and Los Machitos earned what was almost impossible. An outstanding Torito Ruiz produced three unanswered goals to tie at 15-all, to send the game into an extra chukka. And just a few seconds within the extra chukka, the 18-years-old extraordinary Paquito de Narvaez, picked the ball, ran to reach the goalposts and sealed the dramatic 16-15 win for Sol de Agosto, after a remarkable match, maybe one of the best of the season so far.
THE 132nd. ARGENTINE POLO OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP WILL CONTINUE ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2, WITH A SINGLE MATCH, LA ENSENADA vs. LA HACHE CRÍA & POLO AT 4,30pm.
THE FINAL OF THE 132nd. ARGENTINE POLO OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP IS DUE ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 6.