Ellerstina and La Irenita triumph
Wednesday 23 November, heralded the sixth day of play for the 123rd Argentine Open at Palermo.
On the offensive following their defeat on Sunday 20 November at the hands of La Aguada Las Monjitas, La Irenita took everyone by surprise. A hard fought match saw both teams on the attack, resulting in a tight half-time score of just 5-4. However, the second half saw La Irenita begin to assert their dominance over the action, which saw El Paraíso unable to secure a single goal in the fifth and sixth chukkas. Unfortunately for El Paraíso, the strength of Guiñazú continued, scoring 11 of his team’s 14 goals, and resulted in the overall 14-12 win for La Irenita and secured themselves a place in the Quarter Finals, where they will face Alegría which will be played on Saturday 26 November.
Next up, the mighty Ellerstina Johor took on La Aguada Las Monjitas. From the outset the Pieres boys dominated, with Facundo being named top goal scorer for the match. Although La Aguada’s Ignacio Novillo Astrada suffered an injury, his substitution by Francisco Elizalde may well have acted in the team’s favour, as Elizalde came on to score three goals. However, it was too little too late and Ellerstina ran out the winners with a final score of 14-9. La Aguada are scheduled to play Cría Yatay on Sunday 26 November, so watch this space!
La Irenita (29): Juan Ruiz Guiñazú (7),Juan M. Zavaleta (7), Clemente Zavaleta (7) & Matías Mac Donough (8)
El Paraíso (35): Agustín Merlos (9), Ignacio Toccalino (9), Ignacio Heguy (9) & Santiago Toccalino (8)
Ellerstina Johor (39): Facundo Pieres (10), Pablo Pieres (10), Gonzalito Pieres (10) & Nicolás Pieres (9)
La Aguada Las Monjitas (35): Alejandro Novillo Astrada (8), Eduardo Novillo Astrada (9), Miguel Novillo Astrada (9) & Ignacio Novillo Astrada (9)/ Francisco Elizalde (7)
Photograph: Smiles all round as La Irenita find their form. By ©www.imagesofpolo.com/ Eduardo Grunberg