The Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly returned to centre stage on Wednesday with two high-class semi-finals in the Polo Nations Cup BARNES. They will now set the scene for a much-anticipated final on Friday between defending champions France Occitanie and Italy.
The opening semi-final between France Occitanie and France Normandie delivered exactly what everyone had hoped for. Intense, hard fought and highly competitive, neither side managed to pull more than one goal clear throughout the match, except during the third chukker when the defending champions briefly opened up a gap before holding off Normandie’s late comeback to secure a 7½-6 victory.
Badarello everywhere
While Simon Zavaleta, scorer of four goals, was the deserved recipient of the MVP award, young Frenchman Elouan Badarello arguably produced his finest performance of the tournament. Tasked with shutting down Normandie’s Argentine professionals Juan Guerrero and Tomas Alberdi, he executed his defensive role superbly while also producing two spectacular goals of his own: ” Normandie were a very difficult team to play against,” Badarello reflected. “But today everything clicked for us. We found each other really well on the field and, above all, our horses were having one of those great days. That made a huge difference. Everyone had a specific role. Mine was mainly to contain Juan Guerrero and Tomas Alberdi so that Simon and Ramiro could recover possession in good situations. Reaching a third final with Occitanie means a great deal to me. I’m delighted that the team has once again put its trust in me. We get along so well, both on the field and back at the stables, and that really shows in our game. Now we’ll see how the horses recover before giving absolutely everything on Friday.”
Playing from the back, Ramiro Zavaleta was equally full of praise for his young teammate: “It was a fantastic match. After the heatwave and the interruption of the tournament, there were a lot of unknowns. We didn’t know how the horses would respond after several days without playing or how quickly we’d find our rhythm again. Fortunately, everything worked perfectly. I also think that playing together for several years makes a huge difference. Today, Isabelle, Simon, and Elouan were outstanding. Elouan played an incredible match. He really deserved it and he helped us enormously to win.
Third appearance, third final… it’s still hard to believe. In the first two 12-goal tournaments of the season we were knocked out in the semi-finals. This time, in the biggest tournament of the trilogy, we’ve made the final. But there’s still one more match to win.
Whoever we face in the final, it will be extremely tough. PACA are always one of the benchmark teams here at Chantilly and they’ve had an excellent season. We know the Italian team very well too. Either way, it will be a fantastic final,” concluded the Argentine back, who practically grew up at the Polo Club de Chantilly.
Italy strikes first… and never looks back
The second semi-final followed a completely different script.
Winners of the inaugural Polo Nations Cup and fresh from their victory in the Trophée Bourbon, France PACA probably lost their place in the final… during the opening chukker. Caught completely cold, Jean-Claude Le Grand’s side conceded a brutal 6-0 on the field (6-0½ including the half-goal handicap) against an Italian team that was outstanding defensively and ruthlessly efficient going forward.
It proved a deficit from which the French side would never recover.
The rest of the match was actually far more balanced. In fact, PACA outscored Italy 9½-6 over the remaining four chukkers but were never able to erase the damage done in the opening period. Louis Jarrige was flawless from penalties and added a superb long-range goal to finish as the match’s top scorer with seven goals, yet the Italian defense consistently prevented the French side from playing its usual expansive game.
On the Italian side, captain Riccardo Paganelli, scorer of two goals and the driving force behind his team’s performance, was a deserved MVP, while Tomas Delfino once again demonstrated why he remains one of the tournament’s outstanding players: “The plan was to come out very aggressively and, fortunately, that’s exactly what we did,” explained Delfino. “In our previous matches we’d often started slowly. Today was probably our best performance of the tournament. We got off to a perfect start and from then on everything fell into place, both offensively and defensively.”
“This is the third and final leg of the club’s 12-goal trilogy. We lost the final of the PGH Cup, then fell in the semi-finals of the Trophée Bourbon. This time we’ve finally reached the final, where we’ll take on the defending champions. The standard throughout the tournament has been extremely high. With ten teams split into two groups of five, every single match has been highly competitive. That makes this qualification even more satisfying. And this final will also be a match between friends. We know the Zavaleta brothers, Elouan and the whole Occitanie team very well. There’s a great deal of mutual respect between us. On Friday we’ll both be playing to win… and perhaps there’ll be an asado riding on the result!” (laughs)
Friday’s final will therefore pit together two teams who know each other inside out. On one side stand Occitanie, two-time winners and defending champions. On the other, an Italian side brimming with confidence after arguably producing its finest performance of the tournament. A final between friends who share enormous mutual respect, but who will give nothing away once the ball is thrown in. A fitting climax to the fourth edition of the Polo Nations Cup BARNES.
Italy came out strong and then beamed with joy: after defeating PACA, it will face Occitanie in the Polo Nations Cup BARNES final on Friday. © Justine Jacquemot
STATISTICS
First semi-final, M Trophy Cup
Occitanie: Isabelle Larenaudie 0, Elouan Badarello 2 (2 goals), Simon Zavaleta 6 (4 goals), Ramiro Zavaleta 4 (1 goal).
Normandie: Hugues Carmignac 0 (2 goals), Tomas Alberdi 6 (2 goals), Juan Guerrero 5 (2 goals), Édouard Carmignac 0 (replaced during the match by Bartolomé Gaztambide).
Score progression: 1½-1 / 2½-2 / 5½-3 / 5½-4 / 7½-6.
BPP: Triunfo Claridad, bay mare by Lavinia Naipe out of Clabe, owned by Édouard Carmignac, played by Tomas Alberdi and bred by Hilario Ulloa.
MVP: Simon Zavaleta (Occitanie).
Referees : Rafa Silva, Clément Gosset et Santiago Estela
Second semi-final, Une Maison en Toscane Cup
PACA: Jean-Claude Le Grand 0, Lucas Nottin 3 (2 goals), Louis Jarrige 4 (7 goals), Julien Reynes 4.
Italy: Riccardo Paganelli 0 (2 goals), Tomas Delfino 5 (3 goals), Bautista Fanelli 3 (2 goals), Jeronimo Fanelli 4 (5 goals).
Score progression: 0½-6 / 1½-7 / 3½-9 / 5½-10 / 9½-12.
BPP: Irenita Gritona, bay mare by Los Matchitos Libano out of Power Pimpinela, played by owner Tomas Delfino and bred by the McDonough family.
MVP: Riccardo Paganelli (Italy).
Referees : Rafa Silva, Clément Gosset et Santiago Estela
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Getting to the Polo Club
Simply search for Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly in your GPS or navigation app. All major navigation systems will guide you directly to the club entrance.
Match Streaming
All Polo Nations Cup BARNES matches will be available on demand via Pololine TV. The semi-finals and finals will be broadcast live.