La Hache and La Irenita were victorious on the first day of action of the much anticipated 133rd. Argentine Polo Open Championship, that took place at Palermo on Saturday November 14. The most important polo tournament worldwide as well as the icing of the cake of the season in Argentina, sees ten teams up to 40 goals, compete.
La Hache, the runner up of the Hurlingham Open and the Tortugas Open, clashed against Don Ercole in the day’s opening game. La Hache, the team made of the Ulloa and Panelo brothers were the dominating force thoroghout most of the match. While Don Ercole struggled, La Hache reached half time with a comfortable 11-3 advantage. At the start of the fifth chukka, Joaquín Panelo had to sub in for his brother Tomás, due to an injury, and coincidentally things started to change. A determined Don Ercole foursome battled back – Pedro Zacharias produced significant field goals, while Facundo Cruz Llosa’s accuracy to convert penalties was crucial for the comeback. With all those weapons at hand, Don Ercole managed to get closer in the score and scare La Hache a bit. However, with one chukka left, the gap was still impressive – La Hache were 16-10 up. But Don Ercole were never about to give up – they bounced back to outscore La Hache 4-0 in the last chukka; unfortunately for them, the efforts didn’t pay off, and La Hache claimed a 16-14 win. Beyond the result, it was quite significant for Don Ercole, who did a great job, trailing a 3-11 by half time and ended losing by only two goals.
La Irenita vs. La Ensenada came up next, in one of the best contests of the season, a contest that was expected to be very even – and indeed, was a very close, hard fought game, that had a better start for La Ensenada, who earned a 2-0 lead in the first chukka, with goals by Juan Britos and Juan Martín Zubía. La Ensenada managed to retain the lead, but the gap between the two lineups went no further than two goals. In the fourth chukka, La Irenita tied at 6-all courtesy of Paquito de Narvaez, Pablo MacDonough and Polito Pieres. Another tie, 7-7, would come in the fifth chukka, until things changed in the sixth chukka, when La Irenita claimed the lead, 9-7, through two goals from Polito Pieres’s mallet. That sixth chukka ended with La Irenita 10-7 up, courtesy of Vizcacha MacDonough, and the momentum for La Irenita came up; they widened their advantage to the extent thta by the start of the last chukka, the red jerseys had a 13-9 lead. But miracles can happen, indeed – La Ensenada made an impressive comeback, outscored La Irenita 4-0 in the last chukka, and managed to tie at 13-all, which meant that the match went into an extra chukka. A few seconds within that extra chukka, it was Polito Pieres, the man of the hour, who found the flags to secure La Irenita a hard fought but very well deserved 14-13 win.
THE 133rd. ARGENTINE POLO OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP WILL CONTINUE ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15 WITH THE FIRST LEAGUE B MATCHDATE:
2pm: La Aguada vs. Hiper
4,30pm: La Zeta Kazak vs. Las Monjitas
THE FINAL OF THE 133rd. ARGENTINE POLO OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP WILL TAKE PLACE ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 12.
133rd. Argentine Polo Open Championship – Teams & Fixture
Cover photo by Matías Callejo/Prensa AAP.