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The Dutta Corp Sweeps Sun Cup Final, Subsidiary Games At Grand Champions;
Tony Calle Named MVP |
By Arianna Delin, Sharon Robb for Grand Champions Polo ClubThe Dutta Corp knocked off Newport, 8-6, in the championship final of the Sun Cup Sunday at Grand Champions Polo Club. After a 1-1 opening chukker, The Dutta Corp (Timmy Dutta, Tony Calle, Piki Diaz Alberdi, Brandon Phillips) took control in the second chukker and never trailed Newport (Gene Goldstein, Grant Ganzi, Julio Arellano, Juancito Bollini).
Calle, 20, of Lynn University won Most Valuable Player and Best Playing Pony awards with his 12-year-old Argentine mare, Fantasia. The Dutta Corp defeated Flexjet, 10-8, in the opening round of the tournament on Friday after leading, 7-3, and 11-6. “We knew we had a good team,” Calle said. “After our opening game we were pretty confident. Timmy is a great player in front and everybody hits the ball. We all like to run-and-gun. It was fun, open polo. “It doesn’t get any better than this,” Calle said. “I’m happy we won.”
The Dutta Corp missed several scoring opportunities throughout the game. Newport had 11 knock-ins in the first five chukkers. “We took our opportunities when we had them,” Calle said. “We missed a lot of goals. We should have had at least three or four more on the scoreboard. When we had to score the important ones we were there. We all have confidence in each other. When we need to rely on each other we can do it.” Alberdi, a former 10-goaler in England, and Phillips were steadying influences on the team’s young up-and-coming players. “For me this is the best to play with these younger players,” Alberdi said. “I try to teach but also learn from them. I have been playing with Timmy the whole season and it is amazing the way he is changing, improving and getting better every game. He has good horses and scores nice goals. The best quality he has is that he listens. He is ready to learn.
“Tony is a machine and Brandon is a super guy,” Alberdi said. “This team is easy to play with and fun. It is a fantastic team. We controlled Julio and we kept pushing and pressured them into making mistakes.” At 14, Dutta continues to improve playing with and against some of the sport’s best players. Following in the footsteps of his father, a veteran of the game, Dutta started playing only a little more than a year ago. “I’m really happy with the win, this season has been really good for Dutta Corp,” Dutta said. “Playing with Piki this season has been amazing, he has so much experience. He’s teaching me a lot.
“It’s been great playing with and against these great players on these amazing horses,” Dutta said. “Playing against Julio was great. You learn how to play against top players. It will help me in my career. We’ll see where this goes. “It was fun playing with this team. We came together and knew our jobs. Horse-wise we were well-mounted. We knew what to do to take Julio out of the game.” Phillips scored a game-high four goals including two on penalty shots. Calle had three goals including a 100-yarder he grabbed out of the air and converted. Alberdi added one goal. Arellano scored a team-high three goals for Newport. Bollini, Ganzi and Goldstein each had one goal.
The Dutta Corp (Tim Dutta, Jason Crowder, Lucas Lalor, JJ Celis) made it a complete sweep by winning the subsidiary game with a thrilling 9-8 victory over Flexjet (Riley Ganzi/Santos Bollini, Kris Kampsen, Juan Bollini, Marc Ganzi). After Ganzi scored the tying goal on a wire-to-wire breakaway, Crowder came back to score the winning goal in the final minute of the game. Dutta was named Most Valuable Player and Ganzi’s horse Belgrano was named Best Playing Pony. Lalor led The Dutta Corp scoring with four goals. Celis had three goals and Crowder scored both his goals in the final chukker. Ganzi led Flexjet with four goals. Kampsen and Santos Bollini each scored two goals.
The Sun Cup was the third of six medium-goal tournaments that are scheduled for the nine-year-old club. The spring season features some of the nation’s top players. The remaining spring tournaments are: May 12-15, Grand Champions Cup; May 20-22, Polo Gear Challenge Cup and Wellington Chamber of Commerce Kick-Off To Summer; and May 26-29,The Memorial. In the spring season-opening Grand Champions Cup, Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Sebastian Merlos, Kris Kampsen) defeated Power Horse (Walter Scherb, Michael Bickford, Tincho Merlos, Nic Roldan),18-17. Kampsen was named MVP.
Casablanca won its second spring tournament the second week of the season in the Spring Challenge Cup. The team of Gene Goldstein, Grant Ganzi, Julio Arellano and Kris Kampsen defeated Team NR (Tim Dutta, Melissa Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Juan Bollini), 10-8. Melissa Ganzi was named MVP. During the Grand Champions’ spring season, amateur polo players have the opportunity to play with and against some of the world’s top professional polo players. ChukkerTV is live streaming Grand Champions Polo Club games along with other games around the U.S. during the 2016 season with polo broadcasters Toby Wayman and Dale Schwetz calling the action.
Grand Champions Polo Club is the nation’s busiest and most innovative polo club. The USPA-member club hosts polo tournaments ranging from six to 20-goal in addition to special events. The club also features The Polo School, dedicated to teaching polo to all ages, particularly grass roots youth. Its mission is to provide individuals opportunities in polo. The Polo School operates in Wellington January through June and September through November. |
