On Sunday 29/9, the second semi-final of the 131st Hurlingham Club Open presented by Triumph for The Ayrshire Cup was played on field 2 in Palermo.
In the 53rd edition of the modern classic of Argentine polo, the defending champion La Dolfina Saudi defeated Ellerstina UAE Yellow Rose by a tight 18 to 17 in an additional chukker, and qualified as finalist of the tournament, where they will face La Natividad, next Saturday 5/10, on field 1 of the Hurlingham Club.
THERE WILL BE AN 80-GOAL FINAL!
For the fifth time in history, two teams with the highest value of polo, -the 40 handicap-, will play an official match of 80 goals. It will be the third time at the Hurlingham Open and the second time in a final in the West (the first in 2018 was Ellerstina’s 12-11 win over La Dolfina).
To achieve their 36th victory in the classic against the Ellerstina, the Cañuelas team had to sweat more than expected, since on the opposite side they met a brave Ellerstina, who played a great game and perhaps even deserved the victory in the final balance.
With the game 16-14 and 17-16 in favor of the Ellerstina in the last quarter, Poroto Cambiaso -one of the scorers of the match along with Sapo Caset- exchanged three fouls for a goal and sent the game to extra time, where again it was the youngest of the team who scored the winning goal at 2m. 04s. to unleash joy in the palenque of La Dolfina Saudi.
The color fact? Adolfito Cambiaso, the top scorer in the history of the Palermo Open, did not score a goal on the day.
Teams and progressions:
La Dolfina Saudi: Adolfo Cambiaso (h) 10, David Stirling (h) 10 (4 goals, one from Penalty 1), Adolfo Cambiaso (n) 10 (12, eight from penalties and one from corners) and Juan M. Nero 10 (2). Total: 40.
Ellerstina UAE Yellow Rose: Guillermo Caset (h) 9 (12, nine penalties), Lucas Monteverde (n) 8 (3), Gonzalo Pieres (h) 9 (1) and Ignatius du Plessis 9 (1 penalty 1). Total: 35.
La Dolfina Saudi: 2-1, 2-2, 7-5, 8-7, 9-10, 13-13, 14-15, 17-17 and 18-17.
Judges: Gastón Lucero and Guillermo Villanueva (h). Arbitrator: Martín Pascual.
On Sunday 9/29, on field2 of the Alfredo Lalor Venue in Pilar, the second semi-final of the Drysdale Subsidiary Cup was played in the 131st Hurlingham Club Open.
La Ensenada, recovered from the hard loss against Ellerstina UAE Yellow Rose and beat Indios Chapaleufú Vista Energy by 18 to 16 to achieve the pass to the decisive match of the Subsidiary, in which they will face Cría La Dolfina next Friday 4/10 in Pilar.
In a good polo match, the “kids” from La Ensenada had a hard time beating the Heguy cousins, who commanded by the great game played by Cruz, were always close on the scoreboard and even went ahead for a couple of minutes in the seventh chukker.
But five consecutive goals, four of them from Jero del Carril, the star of the field, gave La Ensenada a pass to the final, which will seek to continue improving to stay with the Subsidiary.
For his part, “Chapa” left a very good image in both matches and will now rest to start with the entire 84th Abierto de Tortugas presented by Jumbo.
Teams and progressions:
The Ensenada: Juan Britos (h) 9 (3 goals), Alfredo Bigatti 9 (2), Juan M. Zubía 9 (2) and Jerónimo del Carril 9 (11, eight penalties). Total: 36.
Indios Chapaleufú Vista Energy: Antonio Heguy 7 (3, one from Penalty 1), Victorino Ruiz Jorba 8, Cruz Heguy 8 (12, eight from penalty and one from corner) and Teodoro Lacau 8 (1). Total: 31.
La Ensenada Dietrich: 4-2, 6-5, 8-6, 9-8, 11-10, 13-11, 16-14 and 18-16.
Yellow Card: Cruz Heguy, at 2m.01s. of the first chukker.
Judges: Matías Baibiene and José I. Araya. Arbitrator: Gonzalo López Vargas.