This month the catalan capital will host the 50th edition of the Barcelona Polo Challenge Negrita Cup. The event will be played over two weekends, from May 4 to 13, at the Real Polo Club de Barcelona. Top polo players from Germany, France, Argentina, England, Portugal, and of course, Spain, are set to compete.

For the first time in many years, the event will feature 10 teams with similar handicaps. The venue will offer a comfortable grandstand and an area to savour gastronomic delights. Next to the field, restyled terraces will allow the public to follow the three daily matches closely throughout the six days of play.

The polo players of the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona had already been active for 71 years when, in 1968, they decided to set up a big international event. This competition was usually called the Winter Tournament, because it would be played towards the end of January. The first edition was a great success, and the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona team, composed of Enrique Calatayud, J. Tous, Jean Gregory and Major R. Ferguson, claimed that title. In the 1980s the tournament was played in the spring season, and now it continues to be played in April or May.

In its fifty years, the tournament saw several renowned polo players compete, such as the Domecq brothers, Trujillos, Indian player Jabar Singh, Major R. Ferguson and Argentines Héctor “Cacho” Merlos, Milo Fernández Araujo, Héctor “el Gordo” Barrantes, Pablo Jauretche, Ezequiel Kraft, Matías Magrini, Martín Aguerre, Juan Ruiz Guiñazú, and Spanish player Pelayo Berazadi, among others. These players joined the outstanding members of the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona.

This will be the sixth consecutive year the Barcelona Polo Challenge Negrita Cup forms part of the Barcelona Equestrian Challenge (BECH), an event of huge public interest for being a social instrument in the world of horses, horse riding and sporting values. The main activities of the BECH are linked to the equestrian world and articulate around four axes: sports, education, health and social work.

TEAMS BPC Negrita Cup 2018:

NEGRITA: Roger Domecq 0, Karl Eugen Wallerstein 1, José Trenor 2, Pelayo Berazadi 5. Total: 8.
LOS MARIACHIS: Juande Dios Perez Serrano 0, Arístide Faggionato 1, Guillermo Li 4, Jorge Pepa 3. Total: 8.
KISS FM: Patricio Gaynor 4, Eva Bruhl 2, Santiago Calzado 0, Álvaro Calzada 0. Total: 6.
RIVA: Federico Rosales 0, Mani Boni 0, Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur 3, Santiago Loza 5. Total: 8.
CIBAO LA PAMPA: Luis Iglesias 0, Eduard Guerrand-Hermes 0, Juan Pepa 2, Pato Cieza 6. Total: 8.
ENGEL & VOLKERS: Jan Schonlau 0, Carlos Piñal 1, Alejandro Espada 2, Diogo Gallego 5. Total: 8.
BOOGALOO: Ron Joobeen/Susi Rosenkranz 0, Coke Ayesa 1, Darío Campos 2, Tuki Ruiz Guiñazú 4. Total: 7.
EMERGING: Joaquín Castellví 0, Sascha Pictet 1, Ricardo Sorazana 2, Bautista Sorazana 5. Total: 8.
VIVA LA VIDA: Henk van Druten 0/ Laurens Brouns 0, Maurice van Druten 2, Aki van Andel 2, Héctor Montserrat 3. Total:7.
AVSTONE HOTELS: Xavier Cunill 0, Tomás Medina 0, Tonete Ayesa 3, Mario Gómez 4. Total: 7.

Order of play:

Friday 4 to Sunday 6: preliminary matches
– Friday May 11:
2:30pm & 4:30pm: Mini-quarter finals
– Saturday May 12:
12pm & 1:30pm: Semifinals.
3:30pm & 5pm: Subsidiary semifinals
– Sunday May 13:
10:30am: Third subsidiary position.
12:30pm: Final.
2:30pm: Subsidiary final
4pm: Third position
5:30pm: Fifth position

For more information head to barcelonapolochallenge.com.