Ellerstina and Cría La Dolfina earned the two last spots in the semifinals of the 82nd. Tortugas Open, the first leg of the coveted Triple Crown in Argentina, that’s currently underway at Tortugas Country Club. In the second day of quarter finals, title holders, Ellerstina, defeated La Irenita G-Squared 18-7, while Cría La Dolfina claimed a 10-7 win over La Irenita Grand Champions. The 82nd. Tortugas Open sees eight teams between 29 and 39 goals, in participation.
Ellerstina and Cría La Dolfina will battle in the second semifinal of the Emilio de Anchorena Cup, on Sunday October 2.
Ellerstina and La Irenita G-Squared opened fire on the second day of quarter finals. The Pieres-Ulloa lineup had no trouble at all to overwhelm their contenders; their solid team play allowed them to reach an impressive 12-4 lead by half time. Perhaps the large gap on handicap between both teams (10 goals) was too much for La Irenita G-Squared. But Ellerstina’s dominance was powerful. After a quick paced match, that saw no less than 17 goals from the field, Ellerstina – who played with the complete lineup for the first time, after a very difficult 2021 due to Hilario Ulloa’s and Nicolás Pieres’ injuries – demonstrated they are at their highest.
A very expected game came up next, the clash between Cria La Dolfina (with Rufino Bensadon subbing in for Guillermo Terrera, who has an injury on one shoulder) and La Irenita Grand Champions, Pablo MacDonough’s brand new team. Despite the low scoring, it was a very good match; while Cría La Dolfina were leading all the way, La Irenita was struggling, but they bounced back from the second chukka onwards, supported on Juan Martin Zubia’s accuracy on penalty conversions. However, Cria La Dolfina remained in the lead thoroghout the whole match, under the command of the lethal duo in attack, Diego Cavanagh and Tomás Panelo – they produced all ten goals between the two of them (five apiece), with the latter providing a remarkable performance in his debut in the Triple Crown. Until the fifth chukka, Cria La Dolfina maintained an average of two goals lead; but in the last two periods, it was a different story, that reached its peak in the last minute of the seventh chukka, when Tomás Panelo produced a fantastic goal that secured the 10-7 win, and the last ticket to semifinals.
82nd. TORTUGAS OPEN – QUARTER FINALS – WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28
ELLERSTINA 18-7 LA IRENITA G-SQUARED
Ellerstina: Facundo Pieres 10 (9 goals, 1 penalty), Hilario Ulloa 9 (3), Gonzalo Pieres Jr (2), Nicolás Pieres 10 (4). Total: 38.
La Irenita Gsquared: Santiago Loza 8 (2 goals), Segundo Bocchino 7 (2 de penal), Martín Podestá 7 (1), Felipe Dabas 7 (2). Total: 29.
Umpires: Guillermo Villanueva Jr & Federico Martelli. Third man: Hernán Tasso.
Score Ellerstina: 2-1, 8-2, 9-4, 12-4, 13-4, 16-5, 18-7.
CRIA LA DOLFINA 10-7 LA IRENITA GRAND CHAMPIONS
Cría La Dolfina: Rufino Bensadón 8*, Tomás Panelo 8 (5 goals, 3 penalties), Diego Cavanagh 8 (5, 2 penalties), Alejo Taranco 8. Total: 32.
*Subbed in for Guillermo Terrera.
La Irenita Grand Champions: Juan Britos 9 (2 ggoals, 1 penalty), Francisco Elizalde 9, Pablo Mac Donough 10 (1), Juan Martín Zubía 8 (4, 2 penalties). Total: 36.
Score Cría La Dolfina: 2-1, 4-2, 4-3, 6-4, 7-5, 9-5, 10-7.
Umpires: Gastón Lucero & Martín Pascual.
IMAGES
82nd. Tortugas Open, QF#3 – Ellerstina vs. La Irenita GSquared
82nd. Tortugas Open, QF#4 – Cria La Dolfina vs. La Irenita Grand Champions
The 82nd. Tortugas Open will resume on Saturday October 1 and Sunday October 2, with the semifinals for the Emilio de Anchorena Cup and the Subsidiary Sarmiento Cup:
SATURDAY OCTOBER 1
1,30pm, Semifinal Subsidiary Sarmiento Cup: La Irenita Clinova vs. La Ensenada RS Murus Sanctus
4pm, Semifinal Emilio de Anchorena Cup: La Natividad vs. La Dolfina Saudi
SUNDAY OCTOBER 2
1,30pm, Semifinal Subsidiary Sarmiento Cup: La Irenita GSquared vs. La Irenita Grand Champions
4pm, Semifinal Emilio de Anchorena Cup: Ellerstina vs. Cría La Dolfina
The final of the Tortugas Open is set to be played on Saturday October 8.