Nassau scores the opening win of the 2011 Ibiza Beach Polo Cup
By Alex Webbe
The first match of the 2011 Ibiza Beach Polo Cup took place on Tuesday, June 14, with the Nassau team of Christian Braun, Tonete Ayesa and Ignacio Tillous scoring an exciting 7-6 victory over a scrappy Scapa team of Joao Ruffino, Michael Redding and Alejo Tarranco.
With an excited and enthusiastic crowd on hand to celebrate the return of polo to the Mediterranean island.
In an event touted as most excitement since the arrival of the Phoenicians and much to the delight of visitors and residents alike, Ignacio Tillous and Christian Braun flexed their muscles in the opening chukker, getting Nassau off to a an aggressive start as Scapa struggled to stay in the game. Both teams battled in the sand with Nassau managing to build a 4-2 lead at the end of the second period.
Scapa made the necessary adjustments at the half (beach polo consists of four chukkers of play) and came charging back onto the field with a renewed purpose, knotting it up at 6-6 at the end of the third chukker.
Defense took over in the fourth period with neither team being able to score early on. It wasn’t until the waning moment of play that Nassau’s Tillous scoring the winning goal, much to the enjoyment of the throng of spectators who were on hand to welcome this exciting sporting event back to Ibiza.
Polo action will resume today with three games slated to be played, beginning with the first of the women’s competition kicking off the day as the Casino de Ibiza team of Marianela Castagnola, Debbie Houghton and Analiesse Partness meet the Islena trio of Debra Atwell, Victoria Devin and Tess Noll.
The second match of the day will feature Air Europe (Diego Osorio, Stefan Proieti and Martin Valent) against Lio (Robert Kofler, Ragnar Meitner and Calao de Melo).
The final game of the day will pit the Ushuaia team of Carlos Mansour, Eduardo Hidalgo and Julio Novillo Astrada against Tuesday’s victorious Nassau trio of Braun, Ayesa and Tillous.
Tournament play will continue throughout the week with four women’s teams and six men’s teams doing battle culminating in the Saturday finals.