The Caribbean Open continues
On Wednesday, the second match day of the Caribbean Open, the fourth tournament of the Polo Challenge RD 2017 took place. The first game was between HPA, a balanced team with four players searching for a debut on its victory, and Casa de Campo. The first chukka was very good for them, Julian Mannix was present in the attack scoring twice, and the chukka ended on 3-1 in favor of his team. Quickly, Casa de Campo caught up and had two great chukkas, thanks to a couple of goals by Leo Matos and Pancho Bensadon, the local team took the lead and reached halftime winning by 5-4. The second half of the match was also extremely even, but Casa de Campo managed to keep the lead. Fred Mannix and Gonzalo Deltour were the highlighted players of this second half. Due to an injury, Julian Mannix was not able to continue, and was replaced by Esteban Panelo. After a throw-in by Casa de Campo, HPA was able to take control of the ball and counter-attack. Finally, Gonzalo Deltour was able to score again, and HPA won by 9-8.
On Saturday, fields 2 and 3 in Casa de Campo hosted the day 3 of the Caribbean Open. Early in the morning on Field 3, Cinque Terre and Casa de Campo kicked off the day.
Cinque Terre had a great start, scoring before their opponents, thanks to Cubi Toccalino who was assisted by Nacho Novillo Astrada and managed to score the first goal of the day. Swiftly, Alessandro Bazzoni’s team established a 3-0 difference in the first three minutes of play, thanks to the goals by the Toccalinos, and one by Novillo Astrada. Casa de Campo caught up with them, and the first chukka ended on 2-4. On the second part of the game, Santi Toccalino scored twice for his team, leading now by 8-5. The last chukka was a very open one, and Cinque Terre expanded the lead to conquer the game by 11-7. Their next challenge will be the duel on Wednesday against HPA, searching for their spot on the grand final.
Later that afternoon, the undefeated Lechuza faced HPA. Both teams had scored triumphs on their first Caribbean Open matches. Esteban Panelo replaced Julian Mannix on HPA. It was a closed game with not so many goals for the first 4 chukkas. But Lechuza managed to always stay up front and control the ball. Finally on the fifth period, the teams managed to score more and the game was opened once again. Victor Vargas and Nero converted for their team that reached the 6th chukka leading by 7-4. On the last one, Vargas and Deltour scored again, and the game ended on 8-5.
TEAMS
Casa de Campo
LEO MATOS
FRANCISCO BENSADON
SILVESTRE DONOVAN
FRED MANNIX
Lechuza Caracas
VICTOR VARGAS
ANDRES JAMES
DAVID STIRLING
JUAN MARTIN NERO
Cinque Terre
ALESSANDRO BAZZONI
IGNACIO TOCCALINO
SANTIAGO TOCCALINO
IGNACIO NOVILLO ASTRADA
HPA
JULIAN MANNIX
JUAN AMBROGGIO
GONZALO DELTOUR
GERARDO COLLARDIN
FIXTURE
Saturday, April 1st
Lechuza Caracas vs. Cinque Terre
Wednesday, April 5th
Agualinda-HPA vs. Casa de Campo
Saturday, April 8th
Casa de Campo vs. Cinque Terre
Agualinda-HPA vs. Lechuza Caracas
Wednesday, April 12th
Casa de Campo vs. Lechuza
Cinque Terre vs. Agualinda-HPA
Friday, April 14th
Subsidiary finals
3 vs. 4
Final Caribbean Open
1 vs. 2