In a remarkable contest, Kazak were victorious 10-9 over Akasha and ran out the champions of the Open de France BARNES, after the championship match that was played on Sunday September 20 at the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly, located in the outskirts of Paris. Therefore, Sébastien Aguettant not only beat Akasha for the second time in the current edition of France’s most prestigious contest (the first was on September 5, 11-6, during the league phase), but they also had their rematch after losing the 2021 Open de France final to La Magdeleine, renamed Akasha today.
In adition, the final of the Open de France BARNES saw many young and skillful players on both sides – being the “oldest” Kazak’s Teo Lacau, who is 24-years-old. It was fantastic the talents of these young boys, who demonstrated that the future of polo is in the safest hands. Another detail that’s worth noting is that although the competition featured teams up to 16 goals, both Kazak and Akasha were rated at 17.
With regards to the final, it was a very intense and hard fought game – very intense, fast, with few penalties, long runs, spectacular goals and a remarkable performance delivered by the two lineups, who played without pausing for breath. The scores were very even chukka after chukka, but with a slight advantage for Kazak; Akasha presented a tough battle, indeed. However, Kazak were able to widen their lead to two goals (8-6) in the fourth chukka, but nothing was said and done, yet.
Kazak added two more goals in the last chukka, to reach a 10-6 lead over a very difficult contender who were far from giving up. And that’s what happened – Alexandre Garese and his boys made a stormy comeback and produced three unanswered goals to close the gap to just one goal (9-10) with only a handful of minutes left in regulation time. Even more, they almost went into an extra chukka, when a dangerous last play was saved by Kazak miracously. At the end of the day, Kazak achieved their goal – they won the game, and had their rematch to claim the Open de France for the second time, as they did in 2023.
OPEN DE FRANCE – FINAL – SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20
KAZAK 10-6 AKASHA
Kazak: Sébastien Aguettant 0, Pedro Chavanne 5 (4 goals); León Donoso 5 (4), Teo Lacau 7 (2). Total: 17.
Akasha: Alexandre Garese 0, Ciro Urturi 3 (4), Facundo Fernández Llorente 7 (2), Tommy Beresford 7 (3). Total: 17.
Score Kazak: 2-1, 4-3, 6-5, 8-6, 10-9.
MVP: León Donoso.
MVP Amateur: Sébastien Aguettant.
Fair Play Award: Eternal J.
BPP: Irenita Risa, ridden by Facundo Fernández Llorente.
Best Polo Argentino Bred: Flojura Pulpera, ridden by León Donoso.
THE FINAL OF THE OPEN DE FRANCE BARNES WAS STREAMED LIVE ON POLOLINE TV.
OPEN DE FRANCE BARNES – Teams & Fixture
Cover photo by Justine Jacquemot.