Saturday, August 10, 2024
Ladies’ Polo Cup, the Venot sisters beat Lia Salvo, Carole Muir, Alicia Prat and the sisters Elena and Pearl Venot dominated an international team led by the formidable Argentinian Lia Salvo (H8), winning 10-6.
There was little suspense in this tenth anniversary women’s final, apart from perhaps the first half. After that, the Doma Angels took full advantage of their opponents, who had beaten them by just one goal in the qualifiers. The key to their success: two sisters who have played together since childhood and know each other inside out. Today it was the youngest, Pearl, who scored 7 goals and was crowned MVP (most valuable player) of the final, a reward that matched the nomination of her horse, Besos, as BPP (best playing pony) of the final: “It’s all thanks to Elena, who pulls me up,” said the youngest. It’s often thanks to her that I find myself in a position to score, even though we’re always in competition with each other during our games. But challenging ourselves in this way raises our level of play. Our horses were fantastic today. They’ve just come back from a month’s competition in Mallorca and they arrived here in brilliant condition. They were incredible.” The Doma Angels learned a lot from their first match, a hard-fought victory over Augustinus Bader: “Yes, the first match was indeed more complicated. We had to understand how the referees work here and analyse Lia’s game, which was helped a lot by her teammates, especially Paloma (Lauro) and even Lucia Heyes, who got in my way today by protecting Lia. But Elena, who was slightly injured, played incredibly well.”
The Venot sisters will be back in the French team tomorrow to face the “rest of the world” with the same desire: “Absolutely! Playing for France alongside Ambre Ploix and Paloma Lauro is even more motivating… We would have loved to play with Lucie (the third Venot sister), but with Ambre and Paloma we have two talented team-mates and we’re more than optimistic.”
Another source of joy for Pearl Venot is the nomination of her horse Besos as BBP: “I’ve been riding him for 10 years, he’s always been my best horse and now he’s finally got the title. He’s 16 today and I’ve progressed with him since I was a beginner. Besos was very pleased with this recognition: he didn’t leave a single carrot of his prize!”
See you tomorrow for this international women’s game at 15.00, followed by the final of the Coupe d’Argent – Trophée Diane Barrière at 17.30, which will pit Spain’s Marques de Riscal against Gold Cup holders Barrière.
The final in figures
Doma Angels: Carole Muir 1, Alicia Prat 1, Pearl Venot 5 (7 goals), Elena Venot 7 (3)
Augustinus Bader: Mendoza Houben 0, Lucia Heyes 3 (2 goals), Paloma Lauro (2) and Lia Salvo (2)
BPP of the final: Besos, 16-year-old horse bred by Edouard Carmignac by Besos Eternos, played by Pearl Venot.
MVP of the final by Pampa Robirosa: Pearl Venot (Doma Angels)