Let the games begin!
Chantilly, Tuesday, August 25, 2026
After weeks of dreaming about the twelve “Palermo players”, Argentina’s young prodigies and the other big names heading to Chantilly, the Open de France BARNES 2026 finally has a shape. The draw, held on Friday evening at the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly, divided the twelve teams into four groups of three. More importantly, it determined the match-ups for a cross-group opening phase, after which the top eight teams will advance to the quarter-finals
The countdown is now well and truly on. In just a few days, following the first practices, which will begin as early as next Wednesday, the opening throw-in will finally bring to life the 26th edition of a tournament we have been describing for weeks as one of the strongest in its history.
A format that leaves little room for calculation
The opening phase follows an unusual format. Each of the three teams in Group A will play all three teams in Group B, while the teams in Group C will face those in Group D. Each team will therefore play three matches without meeting either of the other two teams in its own group.
At the end of these cross-group matches, all twelve teams will be brought together in a single overall ranking, with the top eight qualifying for the quarter-finals. There will therefore be little opportunity to calculate a comfortable route out of a group: every result will count in a common race for those eight places.
The draw means that Group A teams Essso, Arho and Eternal J will each face Octogone, Sainte-Mesme and Talandracas from Group B.
Defending champions Octogone and their captain Alexis Morange will therefore meet three very different opponents during this opening phase. David “Pelón” Stirling, Louis Hine and Hazel Jackson will notably cross mallets with Arho and French No. 1 Pierre-Henri N’Goumou, while two-time Open winners Sainte-Mesme, led by Robert Strom, will be looking to secure another place in the quarter-finals.
On the other side of the draw, Akasha, Tédélou and La Esperanza in Group C will each face Kazak, Jolly Roger and Clinova from Group D. Here again, it is difficult to establish any obvious hierarchy before the first ball is hit. Kazak and Sébastien Aguettant will notably be able to count on one of the players we are particularly eager to discover in Chantilly this year: Pedro Chavanne, just 15 years old and already regarded as one of the great prospects of Argentine polo.
Twelve Palermo players, with another generation coming through
The last-minute withdrawal of Alejandro Muzzio’s team reduced the field from thirteen to twelve teams, but certainly did nothing to diminish the sporting quality of this edition. Twelve players with experience of the legendary Argentine Open are still expected on the fields of the Ferme d’Apremont, a concentration that few European tournaments outside the major English competitions and Sotogrande can match today.
Pelón Stirling will, of course, attempt to retain the title he won last year with Octogone. Around him, Guillermo “Sapo” Caset, Juan Martín Zubia, Alfredo Bigatti, Alfredo Cappella, Teodoro Lacau, Juan Ruiz “Tito” Guiñazú, Facundo F. Llorente, Guillermo Terrera, Tommy Beresford, Gonzalo Ferrari and Juan Gris Zavaleta form a cast that gives some idea of the level to expect.
But one of the great attractions of this year’s edition will also be to look beyond these established players. Leon Donoso, Dante Castagnola, Pedro Chavanne, Fermín McDonough, Felix Esain, Milo MacDonough and Blas Bensadon belong to a generation already attracting considerable attention in Argentina. Several are 20 or younger, some considerably younger, and some carry names that tell their own stories about the recent history of polo. For three weeks, Chantilly will give them a particularly competitive stage on which to express their talent.
When the Open plays into the twilight
The Open de France BARNES is about much more than its grand final and the packed stands of the last Sunday. Its magic begins long before then. For almost three weeks, matches will follow one another across the fields of the Ferme d’Apremont, while some fixtures will also take players and spectators to Sainte-Mesme, the unique estate where Robert de Balkany once welcomed some of the greatest players in the world and whose polo tradition Robert Strom continues today. Others will head to La Magdeleine, home of Team Akasha, winner of the 2021 Open de France.
These weekday matches have a very special flavour. At Chantilly, Sainte-Mesme or La Magdeleine, polo sometimes carries on into the soft September twilight: horses at the palenques, teams and their entourages gathered around the field, a handful of knowledgeable spectators, players coming to watch their opponents, petiseros in boinas (traditional Argentine berets) and bombachas (gaucho trousers), and, in front of them, some of the best players in the world battling through the final chukkers of the day in an almost unreal intimacy. A little taste of Argentina in the heart of the Chantilly countryside: this, too, is what the Open de France BARNES is all about.
That closeness to the very highest level is precisely one of the privileges of polo at Chantilly. Thirty years ago, Patrick Guerrand-Hermès imagined the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly as a place open to everyone, players and spectators alike. Three decades later, it is still possible to mingle with some of the best players in the world with a simplicity and immediacy that have become almost unimaginable in other major sports.
After weeks of announcing the teams, counting the Palermo players, introducing the young talents and imagining the match-ups, it is finally time to let the mallets do the talking.
Let the games begin!
To see the teams and the draw – click here.
THE DRAW
GROUP A
Essso
Arho
Eternal J
GROUP B
Octogone
Sainte-Mesme
Talandracas
GROUP C
Akasha
Tédélou
La Esperanza
GROUP D
Kazak
Jolly Roger
Clinova