Opposite, from top:
The
USA’s Kenneth Wright
with a textbook
backhand; Argentina’s
Lucio Fernandez Ocampo
(green helmet) rides off
Chile’s José Miguel
Pereira (black helmet).
This page:
Champions
Argentina celebrate their
third World
Championship title
The 11th edition of the FIP World Polo Championship
was a blend of old and new as teams vied for
top honours in the coordinated 14-goal international
polo competition.
Earning their place in the field through regional
competition, eight teams qualified to play for the World
Championship title at Sydney Polo Club in Australia.
Returning to defend their 2015 title was a realigned
team from Chile, with Argentina arriving as a
pre-tournament favourite. The United States were
expected to make a strong showing after their final
appearance in the 10th FIP World Championship in
Chile in 2015 and England could always be counted
on to be well represented.
Spain, India, New Zealand and the host country,
Australia, joined the top four pre-tournament favourites.
Argentina had two years to stew about their
fifth-place finish in the 2015 World Championship
in Chile – not terribly impressive in a field of just six
teams from a country known worldwide as the top
polo-playing country in the world – and appeared to be
ready to redeem themselves in Australia.
Argentina got off on the right foot by dashing the
hopes of a highly-touted USA entry 12–9½ on the first
day of competition. They followed up with wins over
Spain, 12–3½, and Australia, 9–5½, for a perfect 3–0
record and a berth in the final.
Chile recorded wins over New Zealand, 9–2, and
India, 11–2, before losing to England, 8–5. Chile only
made it into the final on the strength of an English loss.
The highlight of the tournament had to be when the
title game between Argentina and Chile and the match
for third place between England and the USA both went
into sudden-death extra time. For Argentina, it was a
winning goal from Lucio Fernández Ocampo that gave
them their third World Championship title. For England, a
penalty conversion in overtime by Peter Webb gave them
a 6–5 win over the USA and a third-place finish.
A L E X W E B B E R E P O R T S O N T H E C H A M P I O N S H I P
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