In the final of this year’s Hurlingham Open, held at the Hurlingham Club in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, Ellerstina caused a big surprise by defeating their opponent La Dolfina. In a tight and highly competitive match, both teams gave their all.
The game went down to the wire and at the beginning of the eighth chukka, La Dolfina, consisting of 10-goalers Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Pablo Mac Donough and Juan Martín Nero, was in the lead with a three-goal advantage (9-6). But the Pieres brothers Nicolás (9), Gonzalo (10) and Facundo (10) playing alongside their cousin Pablo Pieres (10) did not give up: Two more goals were scored by Gonzalo and another goal by Facundo tied the game, which meant an extra chukka had to be played. Gonzalo, the oldest of the Pieres brothers, scored the golden goal and thus brought victory to his team. In the end Ellerstina won by a narrow margin (10-9) against La Dolfina and thus claimed the title. At the award ceremony Gonzalo Pieres was named Most Valuable Player.
By winning this title Ellerstina thwarted La Dolfina’s plans to win their fourth consecutive Argentine Triple Crown. The Triple Crown is a series of the most important tournaments worldwide and consists of the Tortugas Open, Hurlingham Open and Argentine Open. In 2015, La Dolfina set a new record by winning the Triple Crown for the third time in a row. Following La Dolfina’s victory at the 2016 Tortugas Open, Ellerstina has now put back everything to zero. It is the team’s first big title since winning the Argentine Open in 2012.
On Saturday the 123rd Argentine Open, the last part of the Argentine Triple Crown, started in Palermo: In the first match, La Dolfina defeated Cria Yatay by 22-7 and in the following match Alegría won against Washington by 18-13. Yesterday’s matches had to be postponed due to heavy rains and were rescheduled to be played on today. At 2.00 pm (local time) Ellerstina will meet La Irentia and at 4.40 pm (local time) La Aguada Las Monjitas will face El Paraiso.