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          hurlinghampolo.com
        
        
          DEAUVILLE POLO CLUB
        
        
          B A R R I È R E D E A U V I L L E P O L O C U P , D E A U V I L L E - L A T O U Q U E S R A C E C O U R S E , N O R M A N D Y , F R A N C E , A U G U S T 2 0 1 7
        
        
          
            A C T I O N
          
        
        
          D E A U V I L L E G O L D C U P
        
        
          Cibao La Pampa took the Gold Cup in front of a record turn out, to complete
        
        
          a superb season at Deauville International Polo Club, reports Gemma Latham
        
        
          The 67th Barrière Deauville Polo Cup
        
        
          took place at the Deauville-La Touques
        
        
          racecourse in Normandy this August. The
        
        
          Deauville Gold Cup is one of Europe’s most
        
        
          prestigious tournaments, with both French
        
        
          players and the best Argentine professionals
        
        
          competing. A record audience of more than
        
        
          2,000 spectators watched the final on 27
        
        
          August. The fine weather certainly helped
        
        
          to boost turn out, as did the chance to
        
        
          see Francisco Elizalde (8) play, ahead of
        
        
          competing in Argentina in November.
        
        
          Elizalde will play the prestigious Argentine
        
        
          Open tournament as part of an excellent
        
        
          team with Santiago (8) and Ignacio Toccalino
        
        
          (8), and the striker Alfredo Capella (9) –
        
        
          a foursome that may go far. But in Deauville,
        
        
          Elizalde demonstrated his mind was not
        
        
          already drifting towards Argentina, but
        
        
          was firmly in the here and now, focused on
        
        
          leading his team Cibao La Pampa, of Jorge
        
        
          (1) and Juan Pepa (2), Pato Cieza (5) and
        
        
          Elizalde (8) to a second victory in Deauville,
        
        
          after having won the Silver Cup on 13 August.
        
        
          Cibao La Pampa played a fast and efficient
        
        
          game – not showy, just a fine sports
        
        
          spectacle centred around a team game
        
        
          where each player knows his role perfectly.
        
        
          Their opponents Barrière (Martin
        
        
          Joaquin (4), Juan Chavanne (5), Martin
        
        
          Aguerre Jr (7) and Tommy Rinderknecht
        
        
          (0)) – who won the 2016 French Open in
        
        
          Chantilly – fought to the end, reducing
        
        
          the score in the final chukka, with captain
        
        
          Martin Aguerre Jr scoring three goals
        
        
          including two penalties. However, they could