It was the best final the Argentine Open could have asked for. La Dolfina Saudi beat Ellerstina in the 127th Argentine Open at Palermo to win the tournament for the eighth year in a row, and in doing so stopped Ellerstina from completing the Triple Crown.
The setting
This was the last stage of an unusual season. Ellerstina came to the final as the only unbeaten team of the year, having won both the Abierto de Tortugas and the Hurlingham Open, and they were chasing a first Argentine Open since 2012. La Dolfina had suffered injuries along the way, and the final was played in the shadow of the pandemic. Unlike Tortugas and Hurlingham, the Palermo final was not played behind closed doors: attendance was limited, under strict hygiene and distancing rules, to ten per cent of capacity.
The match
La Dolfina lined up with Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Pablo Mac Donough and Juan Martín Nero. Ellerstina fielded Facundo Pieres, Hilario Ulloa, Gonzalo Pieres Jr. and Nicolás Pieres.
- La Dolfina scorers: Adolfo Cambiaso 6 (including three penalties and a corner), Pablo Mac Donough, who converted penalties, and Juan Martín Nero 1.
- Ellerstina scorers: Facundo Pieres 6, Hilario Ulloa 1, Gonzalo Pieres Jr. 1.
The match report suggests that Ellerstina controlled the play, but that La Dolfina took many more penalty chances. In the end La Dolfina took the last three goals, and it was Cambiaso who scored the winner in the final chukka. He was named Most Valuable Player and top scorer of the tournament with 45 goals.
A remarkable run
Eight consecutive Argentine Open titles is an extraordinary record. Against a very good Ellerstina side, with Facundo Pieres in superb form, La Dolfina needed all of their experience, and they got it. For Cambiaso, the winner at 45, it is another landmark in a career that long ago exceeded what any other player has done.
For Ellerstina, the result will hurt, but a season in which the team won two of the three Triple Crown tournaments and took La Dolfina to the last minutes at Palermo is a good one. Their time may well be coming.
It is the end of a hard polo year, one we will not forget. Polo has had to adapt, to play behind closed doors and to reschedule, and in doing so has shown a great deal of resilience. Thank you for reading, and we hope that 2021 brings crowds back to the grounds.
Sources: Pololine
