The Cathedral of Polo has gone back to La Dolfina. On Friday 2 December at Palermo, La Dolfina Saudi beat La Natividad 13-9 in the 129th Argentine Open, taking their 15th title in the competition and winning the 2022 Triple Crown tiebreaker.
The match
It was a rematch of last year’s final between the two Cañuelas-based teams. Poroto Cambiaso converted two 30-yard penalties late in the first chukka to give La Dolfina a 2-0 lead, and Juan Martín Nero scored early in the third and again in the fourth to make it 8-4 at half-time. David Stirling, known as Pelón, played as a back and swept up La Natividad’s attacks, then scored the goal that effectively sealed the win in the eighth chukka. Adolfo Cambiaso added a late goal.
La Dolfina were Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Poroto Cambiaso and Juan Martín Nero. Poroto and Nero scored five goals each. La Natividad had Camilo Castagnola, Pablo Pieres, Bartolomé Castagnola Jr. and Ignatius du Plessis, and Camilo scored six, three of them penalties.
Records and awards
At 17 years and six days, Poroto became the youngest player to win the Argentine Open, passing the previous record by a few months. It was also the first father-and-son win since 1983. Nero won the MVP award, and Camilo Castagnola was the tournament’s top scorer with 54 goals. Tomás Panelo took the Revelation Award, and Poroto received the Fair Play Award.
A Triple Crown shared
La Natividad had won the Tortugas Open in October, and La Dolfina took the Hurlingham Open, which left Palermo as the decider. It was La Dolfina’s 15th Argentine Open, which ties Hurlingham and leaves them behind only Coronel Suárez.
Looking back at the year
For us, the lasting image of 2022 is the sport’s variety. We saw an overtime Gold Cup final in Wellington, a new winner at Cowdray, the return of the Coronation Cup, a first world championship for Spain and, to end the year, a father and son winning the biggest title in polo together. The Cambiasos have won again, but La Natividad have shown they can match them, so 2023 should be just as interesting.
Sources: Pololine
