America’s Top Polo Player Injured in OT Loss
By Alex Webbe
Leading his team to a 9-6 lead with 3 minutes and 44 seconds left in the fifth chukker, Mike Azzaro, America’s highest rated polo player, suffered a fall that injured his right shoulder and will keep him from participating in Saturday’s international Westchester Cup match with England, and probably sideline him for the rest of the season.
Appearing in the semifinals of the 2009 Iglehart Cup at the International Polo Club in Wellington, the dramatic on-field collision reminded spectators last week’s fatal polo accident on the Outback polo fields and cast a pallor over the crowd of polo devotees gathered along the sidelines.
Azzaro’s Lucchese team took control of the match from the onset, going up 2-0 after the first chukker of play and moving out to a 5-2 lead after the second period.
Patagones bounced back in the third chukker, scoring four goals, but a goal from Azzaro and Andres Weisz’s fifth goal of the game kept the Texas-based team ahead 6-5 at the end of the first half.
Patagones battled to get back into the game in the fourth chukker, but managed only a single goal from Carlos Gracida. Weisz answered for Lucchese with a goal and Patagones left the field trailing 7-6.
Shane Rice opened the scoring in the fifth chukker followed by a goal from Azzaro to give Lucchese a 9-6 lead when the accident happened.
With the hard-riding Azzaro racing down the field, an opposing player, Carlos Avendano, was boxed into his path. With no place to go, and no time to stop, Azzaro and horse went charging right over the top of horse and rider. Both horses and players went tumbling to the ground. Carlos Avendano and mount got up almost right away, not so for Azzaro.
The 9-goaler curled up in pain but conscious. An ambulance raced onto the field as his loose horse was corralled.
Initial assessment by the EMTs present was either a broken collarbone or a broken shoulder. His teammates sat quiet and stunned.
With Azzaro being loaded into an ambulance and taken to an area hospital, a replacement was found in the person of 8-goaler Nick Roldan.
Lucchese returned to the field without the confidence or enthusiasm that had carried them so well through the game. Carlos Gracida and Andres Weisz each converted penalty shots, and the fifth chukker ended with Lucchese on top 10-7.
Gonzalo Avendano opened the scoring for Patagones in the sixth chukker but was promptly answered by Weisz, but that would be the last bit of bravado from Lucchese.
Two more goals from Carlos Gracida cut the lead to a single goal, with Julio Gracida scoring the tying goal, 11-11, and forcing the game into sudden-death overtime.
Following a 10-minute intermission the teams returned to the field. Lucchese attempted to press the attack, but a revitalized Patagones foursome quickly took control. A long pass caught a galloping Julio Gracida who carried the ball over 120 yards and scored the winning overtime goal, 12-11.
“I thought we were in good shape,†said Lucchese team captain John Muse. “We had a rhythm going and we were working well together. You just hate for something like this to happen.â€
The victory propels Patagones into Sunday’s final of the Iglehart Cup against a talented Lechuza Caracas team who had won its earlier semifinal game.
Carlos Gracida led Patagones with eight goals. Julio Gracida scored three times and Gonzalo Avendano added a goal for the win.
Andres Weisz scored eight times for Lucchese. Mike Azzaro added two goals and Shane Rice scored once.