From the pitches of Palermo to the Porsche 92nd Chilean Open
By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
With the final match of the HSBC 121st Argentine Open being played early in December, in the days that followed several key players relocated to another South American destination for another ‘Open’. This time it was the polo fields of the Club de Polo y Equitación San Cristobal in Santiago, Chile which were hosting the Porsche 92nd Chilean Open Championships in association with the Federación Chilena de Polo from 17th – 21st December 2014.
Players who made the trip from the pitches of Palermo were Uruguayan David (Pelon) Stirling (swapping his winning La Dolfina shirt for a Verfrut one), Chilean Jaime García Huidobro and Argentine Marcos Di Paola (exchanging Magul colours for team Mosso-Porsche and El Paraiso-Lo Pinto respectively), other Argentine Open players taking part included Eduardo Novillo Astrada, Ignacio Toccalino and Pelon’s substitute for several Palermo matches Sebastian Merlos. Prior to the opening game, Lionel Soffia, President of the Chilean Federation of Polo spoke of how the participation of these top international players with handicaps of 10, 9 and 8 goals illustrated the importance of the ‘Abierto de Chile Porsche’ at a worldwide level.
Amongst the team line ups were defending champions Itau-Casa Silva, alongside Verfrut, Hush Puppies, Peugeot, Paradise-Lo Pinto, Mosso-Porsche and Rockford. Following some great play in the league games, Mosso-Porsche and Rockford went through to the subsidiary Final on Saturday 20th December and playing in Sunday’s Final at 18:00hrs Itau-Casa Silva were set to meet Peugeot.
On Sunday, prior to the Final of the 92nd Abierto de Chile Porsche, a female Test Match took place between the national teams of the USA (Jennifer Williams, Emily Gaddy, Julia Smith and Maureen Brennan) and Chile (Alexandra Bradbury, Marly Neuman , Sofia Hamilton and Elisa Silva), which was won by the USA 4-2.
In the intense Final which followed between Itau-Casa Silva (Francisco Martinez, Maximiliano Silva, Guillermo Terrera and Matias Vial) and Peugeot (Antonio Pereira, Raul Laplacette, Ignacio Toccalino and Diego Pereira) scores were close by the end of the fifth chukka with Itau-Casa Silva leading by one goal at 6-5. Itau-Casa Silva continued to dominate the game increasing their lead to 7-5, finally defending their 2013 win beating Peugeot by a goal, riding off the pitches winners of the 92nd Porsche Chilean Open with a scoreboard reading 8-7.
Teams in the 92nd Abierto de Chile Porsche:
ITAU – CASA SILVA
1. FRANCISCO MARTINEZ
2. MAXIMILIANO SILVA
3. GUILLERMO TERRERA
4. MATIAS VIAL
Total Handicap: 24 goals
VERFRUT
1. FELIPE VERCELLINO
2. DAVID STIRLING
3. ROMANO VERCELLINO
4. AGUSTIN GROSSI
Total Handicap: 24 goals
HUSH PUPPIES
1. LIONEL SOFFIA
2. FRANCISCO ELIZALDE
3. EDUARDO NOVILLO ASTRADA
4. ALEJANDRO VIAL
Total Handicap: 24 goals
PEUGEOT
1. ANTONIO PEREIRA
2. RAUL LAPLACETTE
3. IGNACIO TOCCALINO
4. DIEGO PEREIRA
Total Handicap: 24 goals
EL PARAISO – LO PINTO
1. JEAN PAUL LUKSIC
2. MARTIN ZEGERS
3. MARCOS DI PAOLA
4. SANTIAGO TOCCALINO
Total Handicap: 23 goals
MOSSO – PORSCHE
1. ERNESTO MOSSO
2. MANUEL CRESPO
3. JUAN EDUARDO JARAMILLO
4. JAIME GARCIA HUIDOBRO
Total Handicap: 22 goals
ROCKFORD
1. MARTIN ITURRATE
2. ANTONIO EGUIGUREN
3. PABLO VILLELA
4. SEBASTIAN MERLOS
Total Handicap: 22 goals