Piaget pips Talandracas in British Open upset
By Herbert Spencer
Stefano Marsaglia’s Piaget staged a surprising upset against Edouard Carmignac’s Talandracas Saturday, winning 11-10 in their Group B match in the British Open Championship for the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup at Cowdray Park Polo Club.
Talandracas had won the Queen’s Cup a fortnight earlier, having come through that 22-goal tournament undefeated, but Piaget had not won a single match. Talandracas’s Facundo Sola’s handicap went up to 7, making them a 23-goal team and so on paper Carmignac’s side were favourites to win their Gold Cup encounter.
Piaget appeared a different and determined team, however, and took a 4-1 lead with their handicap received and goals by Christian Laprida, Joaquin Pittaluga and patron Marsaglia. They held Talandracas scoreless in the second period and increased their lead to 7-1 with the same combination of goal scoring.
Talandracas rallied in the third chukka, denying Piaget any score and reducing their deficit to one. The game was all tied up at the end of the fourth period, but Piaget again held their opponents scoreless in the fifth, with a single goal by Laprida putting them 10-9 ahead. Talandracas equalised in the sixth chukka, but Piaget’s Ignacio Toccalino scored the winner for Piaget before the final bell.
In the day’s other Group B match, Paul Oberschneider’s La Golodrina suffered their second defeat of the tournament, falling to Christopher Hanbury’s El Remanso 12-9.