East Coast Open sees White Birch continue winning streak
The weekend brought exciting play from the States, as Santa Barbara Polo Club saw the Final of The Gulfstream Pacific Coast Open, and Greenwich Polo Club hosted penultimate rounds of The East Coast Open.
Santa Barbara Polo Club
On Sunday 30 August, Lucchese beat Alegria/ Valiente 13-10 to take The Gulfstream Pacific Coast Open. Stand-out player of the match was Lucchese’s Facundo Obregon, who scored seven goals in total. A 2-0 lead in the first chukka heralded the team’s victory, while a steady widening of the goal difference in the second was abruptly disrupted in the third where, after a tense on-pitch battle, Sterling Giannico made a brilliant run to level the score for Alegria/ Valiente, 6-6 at half-time.
However, the second half of the match proved the form of John R. Muse’s Lucchese, who have already won The Belmond El Encanto Polo Classic Cup this season. Impressive teamwork saw every teammate contribute, despite Alegria/ Valiente snapping at their heels. At the start of the last chukka, the score hovered at a close 10-9, but didn’t remain there for long, as multiple penalities were converted to bring the score up for both teams. A final long run from Mannix saw the last goal take the score 13-10 to Lucchese.
Tete Grahn was named Most Valuable Player, while Jeff Hall’s Rocky was named The Best Playing Pony.
Gulfstream Pacific Coast Open Final teams:
Lucchese: John Muse (0), Tete Grahn (3), Facundo Obregon (6) & Jeff Hall (7)
Alegria/Valiente: Julian Mannix (4), Robert Jornayvaz (2), Santiago Torres (7) & Sterling Giannico (4)
Greenwich Polo Club
White Birch are still undefeated in the East Coast Open having beaten Audi 13-9 on Sunday 30 August. It was a tough match for Audi, who themselves were yet to lose a match as they started the game. However, strong defensive play from White Birch proved their downfall, while a high number of penalties upped the overall scores.
White Birch Farm: Santino Magrini (0), Hilario Ulloa (9), Mariano Aguerre (9) & Peter Brant (2)
Audi: Marc Ganzi (1), Juancito Bollini (2), Nic Roldan (8) & Miguel Novillo Astrada (9)
Photograph: Hilario Ulloa plays for White Birch in the East Coast Open. By Alex Webbe
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