Few teams can take a three-goal deficit in a final in their stride, but La Dolfina are one of them. In mid-December, La Dolfina Sancor Seguros, carrying a 40-goal handicap, beat Las Monjitas (37) 17-12 at Palermo to win the 125th Argentine Open for a sixth year running.
A slow start, then a takeover
Las Monjitas were the unexpected opponents in the final, and they started like a team who wanted to make the most of it. Two excellent opening chukkas, with Guillermo Caset the standout, put them three goals up going into the third. Caset was the star of his team in the final and, it seems, of the season.
From there, La Dolfina tightened their defence, and Adolfo Cambiaso took over, effective from the penalty line and unstoppable against the opposing wings. La Dolfina won the third and fourth chukkas 3-0 each, with six goals from Cambiaso, and found themselves ahead. Five goals clear after the sixth chukka, the title was in La Dolfina’s hands. Las Monjitas kept fighting to the end, but the gap was never closed. It was their first Palermo final, and they could not make it a first win.
The 2018 Triple Crown in brief
- Tortugas Open: La Dolfina beat Ellerstina 11-9 in October.
- Hurlingham Open: won by Ellerstina Johor.
- Argentine Open: La Dolfina, with the win over Las Monjitas.
So La Dolfina took two of the three 2018 titles. Another Triple Crown was not to be, but the Palermo run goes on. The result is La Dolfina’s twelfth Palermo title since they first played the tournament in 2000, a remarkable figure by any standard, and one that adds to the argument that this team is the best of its era.
Why it matters
Las Monjitas, the surprise finalists, will take plenty of encouragement from the way they started. For La Dolfina, six straight Argentine Open titles shows a level of consistency that few teams in any sport can match. Next year’s Triple Crown starts in the autumn, and we will be there to follow it.
Sources: POLO+10
