WAIMANALO, Hawaii- Sept. 21, 2015—With the majestic Ko’olau Mountains overlooking the Honolulu Polo Club, Team Porsche rallied in the final chukker to capture the Hawaii Polo Life 2015 Polo Soiree.
In front of a good local crowd and worldwide ChukkerTV audience on Saturday, Team Porsche (Melissa Ganzi, Chris Dawson, Herman DeCoite, Juan Bollini) rallied for five goals in a furious finish to defeat Team Mercedes-Benz (Tiare Paty, Mark Becker, Julian Alvarez, Nic Roldan), 7-3.
Bollini, former 8-goaler from Argentina, was named Most Valuable Player after scoring three consecutive goals in the fourth chukker.
“We opened the game up and the scoring opportunities came,” Bollini said. “This is a wonderful place to play and we want to come back.”
Bollini’s fourth-chukker paint horse Blue was selected Best Playing Pony voted by ChukkerTV viewers.
The horse is owned by Bill Kirton of Maui Polo Club. Kirton provided horses for Ganzi, making her Hawaii polo debut, along with longtime teammates Bollini and Roldan.
It was also the first time in ChukkerTV history, the Wellington-based multi-media company live streamed a polo game from Hawaii.
Roldan, the top-ranked American player rated at 8 goals, was coming off winning the prestigious USPA East Coast Open with Audi in Greenwich, Ct.
“It was great to be here and play,” Roldan said. “There is good polo all over the world and we want to promote it and bring it to the masses. It was exciting and I want to come back.”
Paty scored the first two goals for a 2-0 lead. Dawson took advantage of a Team Porsche turnover to cut the lead to one.
Early in the second chukker DeCoite scored the tying goal. Team Mercedes-Benz regained the lead on Roldan’s goal. Team Porsche squandered away scoring opportunities before the half ended.
The teams battled to a scoreless third chukker before Team Porsche rallied in the final chukker behind Bollini’s hot hand. DeCoite and Dawson scored the final two goals for Team Porsche.
“We haven’t had this kind of polo in Hawaii ever,” Dawson said. “This was amazing.”
The exclusive social event of the Hawaii polo season was centered around the unveiling of the 2015 Hawaii Polo Life Magazine.
The festivities featured live music and DJ, a pre-game demonstration of tacking and polo; luxury car show and halftime fashion show.
Team Porsche teammates Chris Dawson, Juan Bollini, Melissa Ganzi and Nic Roldan arrive in style before the game. Photo courtesy of Hawaii Polo Life.
The Hawaii International Polo Association is one of the sport’s oldest governing bodies. Polo has been played in Hawaii since 1880 during the reign of the legendary King Kalakaua. Hawaii boasts some of the most breathtaking polo venues.
Ganzi, Bollini and Roldan now return to Wellington, Fla. to compete in the fall season at Grand Champions Polo Club.
ChukkerTV, worldwide leaders in polo broadcasting, was coming off a successful live stream of the entire USPA East Coast Open in Greenwich, Conn.
ChukkerTV, an independent media company, was the first to introduce state-of-the-art live streaming technology in January, 2014 at Grand Champions Polo Club, where it got rave reviews about its cutting-edge technology.
ChukkerTV offers the sport to a larger audience and continues to build and improve upon its technology.
A packed crowd getting ready to enjoy the Hawaii Polo Life 2015 Polo Soiree. Photo courtesy of Hawaii Polo Life.
One of the biggest highlights of the 2015 polo season has been ChukkerTV’s use of technology featuring live streaming, instant replay, challenges and team reviews, much to the delight of players and patrons in hopes of improving officiating and quality of play.
ChukkerTV was the only polo broadcasting company to live stream the entire high goal season at International Polo Club Palm Beach.
ChukkerTV is providing unduplicated technology in polo. The technical staff has live-streamed games that have been viewed around the world on its interactive website.
ChukkerTV was also the first to bring live and On-Demand polo into living rooms around the world and continues to expand on that exposure. Currently, ChukkerTV is gearing up for the fall season at Grand Champions Polo Club.
By Arianna Delin, Sharon Robb
http://chukkertv.com/