The Tortugas Open final took place on a sunny Saturday on Palermo’s ground 1. After bad weather cancelled the semifinals, the AAP and the Tortugas organisation agreed to end the tournament on the scheduled date. Around seven thousand people turned up to support the best polo in the world.
After an even first chukka, La Dolfina outplayed and outscored Ellerstina from the second chukker onwards. They scored at every single opportunity, while Ellerstina failed to do the same. La Dolfina stuck to their game plan, and once again showed that there is great understanding between all four players. As always, Milo Fernández Araujo – La Dolfina’s fifth player, as Cambiaso calls him – was a big part of the success.
The final score (12-5) proves that La Dolfina are still on top. But Ellerstina are keeping the memory of their 2016 Hurlingham title alive; they went on to claim the title after losing Tortugas by six goals.
This marks the fifth consecutive Tortugas title for La Dolfina, and a very important milestone for Pablo Mac Donough, who lifted the trophy for the tenth time – only one title away from Alberto Pedro Heguy’s record 11 times.
Final score: La Dolfina 12-5 Ellerstina
La Dolfina: Adolfo Cambiaso 10 (7 goals, 3 penalties), Pelon Stirling 10, Pablo Mac Donough 10 (3), Juan Martín Nero 10 (2, 1 penalty). Total: 40.
Ellerstina: Polito Pieres 9, Gonzalo Pieres 10, Facundo Pieres 10 (5, 3 penalties) and Nicolás Pieres 10. Total: 39.
Score La Dolfina: 1-1, 2-1, 4-1, 6-2, 8-3, 9-4, 12-5.
BPP: CloneCuartetera 05. Played by Adolfo Cambiaso.
Umpires: Federico Martelli and Martín Aguerre.
Third man: Esteban Ferrari.
Adolfo Cambiaso: “We started the season winning the San Jorge Open, the Jockey, and now Tortugas. We are really happy about winning today. I think La Dolfina has a system, where Milo is always keeping us inside the system whenever we fall out of it. We have a great team made up of five people: Milo is the fifth player. He always tell us to keep focus and play well as much as we can.”
Juan Martín Nero: “I’m happy because we won today, because we played well; we kept the intensity throughout the seven chukkers. We played fast and open, which is a great quality of our game. This is my tenth season playing with Pablo, and that makes everything easier; you know when to go on attack, when to stay, everything gets easier. I used three of the ponies that I was keeping for Hurlingham and Palermo: Sirena, Petuña and Vasca Harrods, who is in great shape and will improve in the next matches.”
Picture Gallery:
Tortugas Open Final: La Dolfina vs Ellerstina