The Argentine Triple Crown 2015
By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
It’s almost that time of year when all eyes are focused on Argentina for those three all-important tournaments that make up the Asociación Argentina de Polo’s Triple Crown. With play coming to a close at the end of this week in the Jockey Club Tournament (whose matches had to be moved to other grounds due to an equine health scare at the Club) next up for the very best players in the world is the Tortugas Open held this year from 29th September to 18th October at the Tortugas Country Club. For this tournament the zones are as follows:
Tortugas Open
Zone A: La Dolfina, Alegría and Chapaleufú
Zone B: Ellerstina, Las Monjitas and La Aguada
Number two tournament in the Triple Crown is the 122nd Hurlingham Open, to be played from 20th October to 8th November, the teams and their zones for this are:
122nd Hurlingham Open
Zone A: La Dolfina, Las Monjitas and La Aguada, plus the Highest Handicap team through qualification.
Zone B: Ellerstina, Alegría and Chapaleufú, plus the Lowest Handicap team through qualification.
The last tournament, which will be played out under the towering skyline of Buenos Aires, is of course the 122nd Campeonato Argentino Abierto HSBC (The Palermo Open) – the 5th oldest tournament in the world – from 21st November to 12th December. The zones and their teams are as follows:
122nd Palermo Open
Zone A: La Dolfina, Alegría and La Aguada, plus the Lowest Handicap team from qualification.
Zone B: Ellerstina, Las Monjitas and Chapaleufú, plus the Highest Handicap team from qualification.
Playing for the first time as a family this year will be the Pieres (Gonzalito, Facundo, Nico and Polito) as a 39 goal Ellerstina Piaget team. It just remains to be seen if both teams make it through to one or all of the finals, will Ellerstina Piaget be able to beat the might of the 40 goal La Dolfina (the 2013 & 2014 winners of the Argentine Open) headed up by Adolfo Cambiaso playing alongside team mates Pelon Stirling, Pablo Mac Donough and Juan Martin Nero.
Good luck one and all!
For full teams and the schedule of the Tortugas Open see below:
Team Line-ups for Tortugas, Hurlingham and Palermo Opens:
La Dolfina
Adolfo Cambiaso, Jr. 10
David Stirling, Jr. 10
Pablo Mac Donough 10
Juan Martín Nero 10
Total: 40
Ellerstina
Pablo Pieres 10
Nicolás Pieres 9
Gonzalo Pieres, Jr. 10
Facundo Pieres 10
Total: 39
Alegría
Cristian Laprida, Jr. 8
Hilario Ulloa 9
Lucas Monteverde, Jr. 9
Frederick Mannix, Jr. 9
Total: 35
La Aguada Las Monjitas
Ignacio Toccalino 9
Sebastián Merlos 9
Eduardo Novillo Astrada, Jr. 9
Alejandro Novillo Astrada 8
Total: 35
La Aguada
Agustín Merlos 8
Guillermo Terrera, Jr. 8
Guillermo Caset, Jr. 9
Ignacio Novillo Astrada 9
Total: 34
Chapaleufú
Alberto Heguy, Jr. 8
Ignacio Heguy 9
Bautista Heguy 8
Eduardo Heguy 9
Total: 34
Team Line-ups in Qualifying Tournament:
Magual
Alejandro Muzzio 8
Francisco Elizalde 7
Marcos Di Paola 8
Santiago Toccalino 8
Total. 31
Washington Ghantoot
Diego Cavanagh 8
Ezequiel Martinez Ferrario 7
Facundo Sola 8
Alfredo Cappella Barabucci 8
Total: 31
Miramar
Gonzalo Deltour 7
Valerio Zubiaurre, Jr. 7
Ignacio Laprida 7
Ignatius Du Plessis 8
Total: 29
La Irenita
Juan Ruiz Guiñazu, Jr. 7
Juan Martín Zavaleta, Jr. 7
Matías Mac Donough 8
Clemente Zavaleta (grandson) 7
Total: 29
Las Rosas
Francisco Bensadón 8
Franco Gai, Jr. 6
Juan Ignacio Merlos 8
Manuel Crespo 7
Total: 29
Santa Teresa
Matías Torres Zavaleta 7
Joaquín Pittaluga 7
Guillermo Willington 7
Tomás García del Río 7
Total: 28
Cuatro Vientos
Joao Paulo Ganon 7
Salvador Ulloa 7
Alejandro Agote 8
Santiago Tanoira 6
Total: 28
Tortugas Open schedule:
Tuesday, September 29th
Alegría vs. Chapaleufú
Wednesday, September 30th
La Aguada Las Monjitas vs. La Aguada
Saturday, October 3rd
La Dolfina vs. Losing team of Alegría vs. Chapaleufú match
Sunday, October 4th
Ellerstina vs. Losing team of La Aguada Las Monjitas vs. La Aguada match
Saturday, October 10th
La Dolfina vs. Winning team of Alegría vs. Chapaleufú match
Sunday, October 11th
Ellerstina vs. Winning team of La Aguada Las Monjitas vs. La Aguada match
Saturday, October 17th
Tortugas Open Final