The cathedral of polo has a new champion. On Saturday 2 December, La Natividad beat La Dolfina Saudi 13-10 in the final of the 130th Argentine Open at Palermo, in Buenos Aires.
The match
La Natividad led 10-7 after the sixth chukker, but La Dolfina Saudi rallied and tied the game at 10-10 in the seventh. That was the point where the final might have slipped away. Instead Jeta Castagnola set up two goals for Pablo Mac Donough, putting La Natividad 12-10 ahead with about three minutes remaining, and they closed out the win from there.
Mac Donough received the trophy for Most Valuable Player. Camilo “Jeta” Castagnola scored four goals in the final and finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 38. He also led the Triple Crown scoring with 94 goals. La Natividad’s line-up was Mac Donough, Facundo Pieres, Camilo and Bartolomé Castagnola, with Ignacio Novillo Astrada as coach. La Dolfina Saudi were led by Adolfo Cambiaso, with Poroto Cambiaso and Pelón Stirling among their team.
Records and milestones
- It was La Natividad’s second Palermo title, following their win in 2021.
- Facundo Pieres won his fourth Argentine Open in his 14th final.
- Pablo Mac Donough won his 12th Palermo title in his 16th final.
- Novillo Astrada, who won the Triple Crown as a player with La Aguada in 2003, took Palermo as a coach this time.
A season settled by the final
This final had an extra edge. La Dolfina Saudi had won Hurlingham, and La Natividad had won Tortugas, so Palermo was in effect the decider between the two sides. It had also been billed as a possible farewell for Adolfo Cambiaso, who is 48, though we would not bet against him turning up again.
The final is the third meeting in successive years between the two teams in the Palermo final, with La Natividad winning in 2021 and 2023 and La Dolfina in 2022. That sort of rivalry is what the sport needs, and it has made the Argentine Open one of the best fixtures in world polo.
Looking ahead
With the Argentine season wrapped up, attention turns to the new year. St. Moritz and Florida are next, and then the English season will start to take shape.
