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A C T I O N
Gonzalito. La Dolfina replied quickly –
Cambiaso picked the ball and passed it to
Nero, who scored the winning goal to seal
their fifth consecutive Argentine Open.
I will finish this article as I did in
2016. La Dolfina remains on top of this
imaginary 10-step ladder. Ellerstina stepped
up to ninth place. Alegría (who broke up for
2018) would have stepped up two to stay in
eighth position. La Aguada is in sixth place,
and the rest are all below the fifth place.
Last but not least, it should be considered
that 2017 world polo was dominated by two
players: Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo
Pieres. Cambiaso played for winning sides
in the US Open, Queen’s Cup,Tortugas and
Argentine Opens, and Pieres did so in the
UK Gold Cup, the Sotogrande Gold Cup and
the Hurlingham Open.
team – always focused, at high speed, never
missing a play, not to mention a perfect
combination within the positions. Based on
the same parameters, Ellerstina scored 61
goals and received 37.The third team, Alegría,
scored 63 goals and received 48.
As usual, the most important teams,
La Dolfina and Ellerstina, met in the
championship match. La Dolfina had no
trouble at all defeating all their opponents
within an easy league, while Ellerstina had to
fight really hard in two games. But the finals
are another story, and this was no exception.
Ellerstina dominated the first chukka and
a half, with attitude, speed and strength in the
marks. Polito Pieres was very focused, and
played like he used to in his Alegría days
back in 2013. In addition, Facundo Pieres
showcased a more aggressive version of
himself. So, it was no surprise that the Z boys
took a 4–1 lead. La Dolfina seemed nervous,
confused, under a lot of pressure, and weak in
stick-and-ball.That was until they started to
play their game, balanced the scores and took
advantage of many mistakes from their rivals.
The match was very balanced until the
fifth chukka, when La Dolfina retained the
ball under Cambiaso’s leadership. On their
side, Ellerstina’s performance declined; as
a result, La Dolfina widened their advantage,
always with Cambiaso leading the charge.
They had a three-goal advantage by the start
of the last chukka, quite a strange gap in
a very close game. But suddenly, a determined
Ellerstina made a remarkable comeback,
tied the game and forced an extra chukka.
The Pieres missed an opportunity to
win in that extra chukka through a run by
Juan Martin Nero was
named MVP at Palermo
