ARAUCARIA WON THE FIRST ARGENTINE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP, AT LA AGUADA POLO CLUB, PRESENTED BY RIO URUGUAY SEGUROS
Araucaria beat Zungas Amor by a 10 – 3,5 score and captured the First Argentine Chapmpionship presented by Rio Uruguay Seguros, following the final that took place on Saturday April 8, at La Aguda Polo Club, in Open Door, Argentina. The competition showcased ten teams up to 8 goals, broken down into three leagues.
The winners of the Subsidiary Trophies were the following: Las Bétulas/LaQuerencia (Escorihuela Gascón Cup); Las Bétulas/Los Picapiedras (New Balance Cup); El Mirasol (Kia Cup); Las Praderas (Ona Cup).
But beyond the results, this brand new tournament, hosted by the Novillo Astrada family’s club, was a total success, bringing the opportunity to spend a great time with family and friends, which was the main goal of the tournament, as Thomas Hume, La Aguada’s Polo Manager said: “The tournament was Eduardo’s (Novillo Astrada Jr.) idea. We were thinking about doing something new for the many amateur players who are around, and then the idea came out. At the same time, we wanted to add some extra activities to encourage people to come and have a good time. That’s why we decided to have the third time, in order to have everyone to come with family and friends, and enjoy, as well as to encourage friendship between the players. We had a live band, asado, many new activities. Everybody stayed after the games, in a very relaxed atmoosphere and having fun, which was the main goal of this tournament – to have fun on and off the field”.
On his side, Delfin Uranga, the final’s top scorer and member of the winning team, praised the tournament and was very happy with this brand new project at La Aguada Polo Club. “I thought this could be the ideal tournament to play with my best friends, those who I went to school with. I called them up to play and we put a good team together, along with Alejo Nitti, Carlos Menéndez Behety and Pablo Sahores. We all thought it would be a lot of fun to play at La Aguada, so everything went really well!”
“The organization at La Aguada was absolutely spectacular”, Delfín added. “the place is beautiful, the people are kind and very nice. Taio Novillo Astrada played early in thr morning and then he was the referee of the final. There were a lot of good vibes from both the family and everybody who contribute with them. And these are the
real values of a sport, have fun, spend a great time while you’re playing a sport. And if you play a sport with friends, it’s much better! We have to strnghthen the values of both life and sport, and what made this tournament so attractive. And definetly it is a gift to have the possibility to play in such a gorgeous place like La Aguada!”.
With regards to the match, Delfín says: “It was a very even contest until the second chukker. But then we’ve been very lucky to score many goals, so we could take a good advantage in the third chukker. The field was in great condition to play a five-chukker match. And I was fortunate enough to be the top scorer and awarded MVP, as well!”.
Due to the big success of the tournament as well as the enthusiasm of the players the Amateur Championship will have “a second edition, that will take place in the upcoming spring season in Argentina, probably in October”, says Thomas Hume. “At one point, we had sixteen teams entering, and we ended up having ten, which was very good and a lot of fun. Definetly, it was a big success, everybody were very happy and thankful for this opportunity”.
TEAMS
LEAGUE A:
Araucaria: Alejo Nitti 1, Pablo Sahores 1, Delfìn Uranga 4, Carlos Menénez Behety 2. Total: 8
San Jorge: Santiago Porreca 1, Emilio Bertolone 2, J. Pablo Anieva 3, Edgar J. Echezarreta 2. Total: 8
Las Bétulas/La Querencia: Mariano Bosch 0, Matás Bosch 0, Francisco Soldati 3, Alberto Martinez 1. Total: 4
LEAGUE B:
El Mirasol: Hannah Grill 0, Pablo Zavaleta 3, Julio Zavaleta 3, Eduardo Novillo Astrada 2. Total: 8
Las Praderas: Gonzalo Moretti 1, Martín Moretti 1, Francisco Moretti 3, Diego Sirito 1. Total: 6
Las Bétulas/Los Picapiedras: Mariano Tomás Allende 0, Javier Uranga 2, Ignacio Uranga 2, Miguel Vignano 1. Total: 5
LEAGUE C:
Hurlingham: Federico Virasoro 1, Rafael Cúneo Libarona 2, Ezequiel Nervi 3, Federico Fleitas 2. Total: 8
Zungas Amor: Jorge Mastroizzi 0, Federico Benítez Cruz 1, Wimpy Traverso 4, Maximiliano Pistone 2. Total: 7
La Campana: Sebastián Pistone 1, Alejandro Savage 1, Duncan Dub 2, Diego Bosch 1. Total: 5
Santa Agueda: Ignacio Aguirre Saravia 1, Facundo Arrambide 1, Carlos Cabrea 1, Diego Davila 1. Total: 4
FIXTURE
Saturday, April 1
10,30am: Araucaria vs. Las Bétulas/Los Picapiedras // Hurlingham vs. Santa Agueda // Zungas Amor vs. La Campana
12pm: San Jorge vs. Las Praderas
2pm: El Mirasol vs. Las Bétulas/La Querencia
Sunday, April 2
11,30am: El Mirasol vs. San Jorge // Zungas Amor vs. Araucaria
1pm: Araucaria vs. Las Praderas // Las Bétulas/La Querencia vs. Las Bétulas Los Picapiedras
Friday, April 7
3pm: Hurlingham vs Zungas Amor (field 4)
4,30pm: Las Bétulas/Los Picapiedras vs San Jorge (La Tapera field)
4,30pm: El Mirasol vs La Araucaria (field 3)
5pm: Las Bétulas/La Querencia vs Las Praderas (field 5) // La Campana vs. Santa Agueda (field 4)
Finals, Saturday April 8
10aam Subsidiary Trophies
12pm: Final First Argentine Amateur Championship