86th.Tortugas Open: La Ensenada and Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu victorious on the first day

Action for the Triple Crown in Argentina continues with the second leg of the most coveted polo trophy in the world, the 86th. Tortugas Open, that kicked off on Tuesday October 6, with a double matchdate that saw La Ensenada and Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu victorious over Don Ercole and La Zeta Kazak, respectively. The 86th. Tortugas Open sees ten teams up to 40 goals, partake.

 

In the first contest La Ensenada clashed against Don Ercole; the latter had Peke González and Lucas Criado Jr. subbing in for the injured Facundo Cruz Llosa and Keko Magrini, respectively. Don Ercole had a better start – two goals by Pedro Zacharias to make at 2-1. Don Ercole overwhelmed La Ensenada in the second chukka, to earn a 6-3 lead. But La Ensenada bounced back in the next two chukkas – goals by Jero del Carril (3) and Diego Cavanagh secured La Ensenada a 7-6 advantage by half time. And although La Ensenada improved their performance thoroghout the second half, Don Ercole managed to remain on their tail. By the end of the sixth chukka, it was anyone’s game – the scoreboard read a 11-all. And in the seventh chukka, Don Ercole were just one goal behind (13-14). But at the end of the day, luck was on La Ensenada’s side – three unanswered goals produced by Jero del Carril, Juan Britos and Diego Cavanagh sealed the deal, and La Ensenada claimed the 17-13 win.

 

The follow-up was a family affair – on one side, Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu, with brothers Gonzalito and Facundo Pieres and cousins Cruz and Antonio Heguy; on the other side, and playing the Tortugas Open for the first time ever, La Zeta Kazak, with Nicolás Pieres, Gonza’s and Facundo’s younger brother.

La Zeta Kazak opened the scores with a goal by Sapo Caset; Facundo Pieres replied quickly with a 60-yards penalty conversion, to tie at 1-all at the end of the first chukka. The second chukka belonged to the Pieres-Heguy foursome, but in the third chukka, a couple of fouls were awarded to La Zeta Kazak, when their opponents were 5-2 up. Young gun, Lorenzo Chavanne converted two penalties, and closed the gap to 5-4. But Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu rolled up in a remarkable fourth chukka, and with goals by Facundo Pieres they stepped into half time by a 9-4 lead. But La Zeta Kazak were not about to give up – they outscored their opponents 3-0 and shortened the distance to a couple of goals (7-9).
But La Zeta Kazak’s hopes were brutally broken in the sixth and seventh chukka – Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu overwhelmed La Zeta Kazak – in the fifth they outscored them 5-0, and they left the deal said and done in the two last chukkas; by the start of the eighth and last chukka, Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu were 16-9 up, a gap that was almost impossible to overturn for La Zeta Kazak. Finally, Facundo and Gonzalito Pieres scored, togive their team the 18-10 win, in their debut at the Tortugas Open.

 

THE 86th. TORTUGAS OPEN WILL CONTINUE ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 7, WITH THESE GAMES:

1pm: Hiper vs. La Aguada

4pm: Las Monjitas vs. La Irenita

 

THE FINAL OF THE 86th. TORTUGAS OPEN IS SET TO BE PLAYED ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7.

 

86th. TORTUGAS OPEN – Teams & Fixture

 

Cover photo by Agustina Fonda.