The 133rd Hurlingham Open, the first leg of the Argentine Triple Crown, has its finalists. La Natividad La Dolfina and La Hache will play for the title on Saturday 3 October, after two very different semi-finals.
A rout and a thriller
On Friday 25 September, La Natividad La Dolfina beat Las Monjitas 22-10 in the first semi-final. The match was brought forward from the weekend because of rain in the forecast, and was played at the Argentine Polo Association grounds in Pilar. La Natividad led 9-5 at half-time, and the fifth chukka went 5-0 their way. Poroto Cambiaso was the top scorer, Barto Castagnola scored late, and Jeta Castagnola scored twice in the fifth chukka. Many of the goals came from 30-yard penalties.
The second semi-final, on Saturday 26 September, was a great deal closer. La Hache beat Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu 13-12, having led 4-1 at half-time. Benjamin Panelo scored the penalty that put them ahead 13-12, and they held on. La Hache were Toly Ulloa, Hilario Ulloa, Tomás Panelo and Benjamin Panelo, and this was their first outing together as a line-up. Ellerstina’s side included Antonio Heguy, Cruz Heguy and Facundo Pieres.
The earlier rounds
On Tuesday 22 September, La Natividad La Dolfina made an explosive start to the tournament with a 26-3 win over La Aguada. They led 13-2 at half-time, and La Aguada, who were missing Iñaki Laprida at first, never recovered. In their quarter-final, Las Monjitas beat La Ensenada 15-11 in a match decided in the last chukka, and Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufu and La Hache both won their quarter-finals the following day.
La Ensenada, beaten by Las Monjitas, moved into the first Drysdale Cup, a subsidiary competition, and beat La Aguada 17-7 on Friday to reach the final.
What to expect
- La Natividad La Dolfina: rated 40 goals, they scored 26 and 22 goals in their two big wins and are firm favourites
- La Hache: a new-look team, with two Ulloas and two Panelos, and a great deal of confidence
Facing the best team in the country, La Hache will need to repeat the kind of defensive discipline they showed against Ellerstina. A 4-1 half-time lead is not an obvious blueprint, but it worked.
Elsewhere
In Romania, a UK side, AQUA Carpatica/Red Star Polo Team, won the third Singureni Manor Polo Cup on Sunday, beating CARPATHIAN/Norddeutscher Polo Club of Germany 8-3.5 in the final, with Mikey Henderson as MVP. It is Romania’s only international arena polo tournament, and a sign that the sport is growing in eastern Europe.
Our report on the final will be next Monday.
Sources: Polo Press (semi-final), Polo Press (La Hache v Ellerstina), Polo Press (opening round)
