Travieso vs Casablanca on Sunday 7 April
On Sunday 3 April, Travieso and Casablanca secured their places in The WPL Palm Beach Open Final at Grand Champions Polo Club.The first Semi Final of the day saw Travieso secure a 10-8 win against the previously undefeated Pilot, which sees the team advance into their first 26 goal Final. Their strong defence held Pilot nearly scoreless in the first half and overcame Pilot’s three goal handicap to lead 6-4 going into half-time.
Tony Calle, who is making his 26 goal debut this year, commented “We tried, we tried very hard. Juan said it was very important to stick with the good players we had to defend whether it was Santi or Facu and whoever was free take advantage when we could with the ball. We tried not to give them a clean shot or clean option the whole game.” Although Pilot got to within one goal, 9-8, with just a few minutes left on the clock, Tomacho Pieres scored an insurance goal with a minute left to clinch the win, 10-8.The second Semi Final, defending champions Casablanca defeated tournament favourites Audi, 12-7, in front of a packed grandstand.
After three goals from Jeta Castagnola, Audi held a 5-2 lead at the end of the second chukka, but after this the match belonged to Casablanca who held Audi to their lowest scoring tally of the tournament. The effectively shut out Audi in the third and fifth chukkas, while scoring eight unanswered goals, 12-5, even with two Castagnola goals in the last minute the outcome was a foregone conclusion as Casablanca secured their Final spot with a 12-7 win.
The WPL Palm Beach Open Final Teams:
Travieso (26): Tony Calle (3), Tomacho Pieres (6), Pipe Vercellino (7) & Juan Martin Nero (10)
Casablanca (26): Grant Ganzi (3), Rufino Bensadon (8), Sapo Caset (9) & Hilario Figueras (6)
Photograph: Travieso’s Tony Calle defends Facundo Pieres.
By Candace Ferreira