The 129th. Argentine Open returned home on Saturday November 5, with two League A games. La Ensenada RS MUrus Sanctus and current reigning champions, La Natividad, were victorious over La H and La Irenita GSquared, respectively. The most important polo tournament of the world, and the highlight of the season in Argentina, sees ten teams up to 39 goals, in participacion.

La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus and La H played the day’s opening match, that had five remarkable five chukkas. La H made things quite difficult to the French-Argentinian lineup; La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus had to struggle to maintain a slight advantage over La H, who managed to overcome them in the fifth chukka, with goals by Joaquín Pittaluga and Toly Ulloa. But in the last seconds within that fifth chukka, Facundo Sola tied at 10-all.

But the last two chukkas were a very different story. La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus put enough pressure, and outscored La H 7-0 in those two chukkas, which led them to earn a wide advantage, 17-10. Although the contest was almost said and done, La H attempted to get back into the game in the last period, until Alfredo Bigatti and Sapo Caset sealed the deal and secured the 19-12 win.

The follow-up saw title holders, La Natividad, against La Irenita GSquared. La Natividad got off to a stronger start, taking an early 3-1 lead by the end of the first chukka, with goals by Jeta Castagnola (2) and Polito Pieres. But from the second chukka onwards, the match was very close, with La Natividad trying to hold all of La Irenita GSquared’s attempts to attack, led by another remarkable performance by Segundo Bocchino, a player who improves with every game. However, and despite La Irenita GSquared’s strong pressure, La Natividad managed to retain a slight advantage within the scoreboard.

Everything would change in a remarkable fourth chukka, when La Natividad outscored La Irenita GSquared by an almost decisive 4-0, that earned them a 10-4 lead by half time. From then onwards, the match belonged to the Cañuelas-based foursome, who seized the reins, thanks to their extraordinary team play, plenty of goals by the one and only Jeta Castagnola, the crucial contributions of this brother, Barto as well as Polito Pieres’ and Nachi du Plessis’ experience and support. Indeed, a lethal combination. At the end of the day, the current reigning champions couldn’t have made it any better to defend their title at Palermo, by earning an impressive 23-12 victory.