Everything is set and ready in Sotogrande for the kickoff of the 52nd. edition of the International Polo Tournament, a season that promises to be the best ever, and that will see no less than 25 teams to compete the three remarkable tournaments – Gold Cup, Silver Cup and Bronze Cup. The 52nd. International Polo Tournament is hosted by Ayala Polo Club, and all eyes will be set on Southern Spain, to enjoy the skills of the best players of the world, who will be in competiton in two venues: Ayala and Los Pinos.
There will be many comebacks among the participant lineups within the three categories (high goal, medium goal and low goal), such as Dubai, who claimed the high goal Silver and Gold Cups in 2022. The lineup will include Rashid Albwardy and Camilo Castagnola once again, as well a remarkable addition, Barto Castagnola. Meanwhile, Facundo Pieres will be back to Sotogrande after a five years absence to play with Pablo MacDonough in MB Polo, the winners of the 2019 Gold Cup. Their captain, Brunei’s Mateen Bolkiah, is another of the most expected comebacks.
In addition, Guillermo Caset, Santiago Cernadas and Alejandro Aznar, recently arrived from England, will join forces once again in order to re-take the title they claimed in 2021. Sainte Mesme, the Bronze Cup reigning champions, will be playing as well, and the lineup will have Clemente Zavaleta back on the saddle in Sotogrande. He will indeed be joined by his brother-in-law, Robert Strom. Spain’s most remarkable player, Pascual Sáinz de Vicuña, will be playing with a strong Dos Lunas lineup. It is worth to note that Dos Lunas were one of the mos remarkable teams of the last season.
The high goal line-up will be completed by Sébastien Aguettant’s French foursome, Kazak, who, together with his partner, Patrick Paillol, decided to make a significant movement and, after several successful seasons in France, playing 12 and 16-goal, they arrive to Sotogrande with big expectations. Last but not least, one of the biggest news is that one of the world’s most powerful organisations, Park Place, will be in the main draw, in order to provide a better quality to the contest.
Meanwhile, medium goal will see ten poweful teams up to 14 goals. Among them, Jolly Roger, the winners of thr 2022 Silver Cuo, and Ayala, current Bonze Cup and Gold Cup title holders. Low goal will see eight teams up to 8 goals.
52° INTERNATIONAL POLO TOURNAMENT
ATL MARINE & ENERGY BRONZE CUP: July 24 – 29.
TERRALPA SILVER CUP: August 1 – 12.
ELECTROLIT GOLD CUP: August 14 – 26.
52° INTERNATIONAL POLO TOURNAMENT – TEAMS:
HIGH GOAL
DOS LUNAS: Beltran Lauhlé 3, Pascual Sainz de Vicuña 5, Joaquin Pittaluga 7, Cruz Heguy 7. Total: 22.
DUBAI: Rufino Laulhé 1, Rashid Albwardy 2, Camilo Castagnola 10, Barto Castagnola 9. Total: 22.
KAZAK: Sebastien Aguettant 0, Patrick Paillol 5, Francisco Elizalde 8, Nicolas Pieres 8. Total: 21.
MB POLO: Mateen Bolkiah 0, Santos Merlos 4, Pablo Mac Donough 9, Facundo Pieres 9. Total: 22.
PARK PLACE: Andrey Borodin 0, Antonio Heguy 5, Hilario Ulloa 9, Juan Britos 8. Total: 22.
SAINTE MESME: Robert Strom 4, Toly Ulloa 6, Clemente Zavaleta 6, Santiago Laborde 6. Total: 22.
SAN LUIS: Alejandro Aznar 0, Lukin Monteverde 6, Guillermo Caset 9, Santiago Cernadas 7. Total: 22.
MEDIUM GOAL
ALMASANTA: Joaquin Castelvi 0, Tomas Delfino 4, Pelayo Berazadi 5, Salvador Jauretche 5. Total: 14.
AMANARA: Nicky Sen 0, Lorenzo Chavanne 4, Santiago Chavanne 7, Tomas Ferrari 2. Total: 14.
ATL MARINE & ENERGY: Cruz Marchini 1, Ned Hine 5, Pablo Llorente 6, Nicolas Alvarez 2. Total: 14.
AYALA: Iñigo Zobel 0, Jesus Cobino 3, Benjamin Panelo 7, Santiago Gomez Romero 4. Total: 14.
BEL POLO TEAM: Henry Lunn 0, Thomas Severn 4, Edward Banner-Eve 5, Santos Merlos 5. Total: 14.
BRUNEI POLO TEAM: Princess Azemah Bolkiah 0, Vizcacha Mac Donough 5, Martin Podesta 7, Roberto Iturrioz 2. Total: 14.
ELECTRIC POLO: Sarah Braune 0, Tomas Garbarini 5, Francisco Crotto 4, Felix Esain 5. Total: 14.
JOHN SMITH: Gabriel Aguirre 0, Luis Domecq 3, Alejandro Muzzio 8, Maximiliano Malacalza 3. Total: 14.
JOLLY ROGER KINGS OF POLO: Niclas Johanson 0, Zack Beim 4, Manuel Plaza de Ayala 6, Segundo Fernández Llorente 4. Total: 14.
SANTA QUITERIA: Jose Entrecanales 1, Gonzalo Entrecanales 1, Tito Ruiz Guiñazu 7, Santiago Tanoira 5. Total: 14.
LOW GOAL
ÁGUILAS: Beau Buchan 0, John Buchan -1, Segundo Fernández Llorente 4, Ezequiel Zubiaurre 5. Total: 8.
COTTON HOUSE: Jose Trenor (h) 0, Jose Trenor 1, Jaime Espinosa 2, Benjamin Araya (h) 5. Total: 8.
EL MILAGRO: Catalina Tomasevich -1, Nicolas Tomasevich 0, Federico Tomasevich 1, Martin Iturraspe 5. Total: 6.
ESSSO: Elliot Galliene -1, Cristian Bernal 4, Javier Guerrero (h) 5, Ian Galliene 0. Total: 8.
KOREA POLO / SHIFTBIO: David Ko/Jerry Kwak 0, Elouan Baradello 0, Alejo Badano 3, Santiago Irastorza 5. Total: 8.
LA CAPILLA / STRABROCK: Kevin Korst 1, Pedro Beca 2, TBA, Gaetan Charloux 2. Total: 8.
POLO VALLEY: Ivan Romanovsky -1, Chris Byrne 0, Patricio Neves 5, Ignacio Alberdi 4. Total: 8.
POLOTHANDA: María Curtichs -1, Álvaro Álvarez 1, Estanislao Grahn 3, Tomas Iriarte 4. Total: 8.