Ellerstina and La Dolfina Through After a Weekend of Exciting Polo
For the second year running, it will be an Ellerstina vs La Dolfina Final for The Argentine Open. This will be the third clash of the polo rivals in this year’s Argentine Triple Crown, La Dolfina having come out victorious on the previous two occasions. This Final will be a chance for La Dolfina to make history and clinch a third consecutive Triple Crown, matched only by the legendary Coronel Suarez team, who achieved the same feat in the seventies.
For the 2015 season, the path to the Final was not easy, with many teams putting up a strong fight to challenge the current title-holders. La Dolfina’s Semi Final vs La Aguada certainly showed up some weak spots in the team’s play that Ellerstina will most definitely be trying to exploit in the Final on Saturday 12 December. Despite winning by 13 goals to 10, La Dolfina were pushed by La Aguada, marked closely and harassed until the final whistle.
Ellerstina’s Semi Final against La Aguada Las Monjitas was less of a challenge, with the match effectively over by the third chukka as Ellerstina’s powerful offensive skills saw goal after goal bring them to an easy 16-12 victory.
The matches taking place on Field 2 before each Semi Final were also exciting games. The teams were playing for their right to qualify directly for next year’s Argentine Open. Magual lost out to Alegria by 18 goals to 11, meaning that once again Magual will have to fight for their right to play in a tough qualifying tournament next year.
Chapaleufú were defeated 15-12 by newcomers Washington, who qualified for the tournament this year alongside Magual. The Chapa boys, who played with South African 8 goaler Ignatius Du Plessis in place of cousin Bautista Heguy, who was off after shoulder surgery, could not keep it together against the younger side and after a closely fought and dynamic match, experience was forced to bow to youth. Chapaleufú’s handicaps will be dropped and they will be forced to battle it out for the place next year.
The Final will take place on Saturday 12 December and will once again be the highlight of the Argentine season. The full report will be coming to you via Polo Times’ brand new Argentine Special Edition coming out this Christmas.
Photograph: Ellerstina defeat Las Monjitas in the second Semi-Final. By Matias Callejo
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