The 126° Argentine Open, the most important polo tournament in the world, continued on Thursday. The championship sees ten teams compete; La Dolfina is the highest handicapped team, boasting 40-goals. This year they are playing for their seventh consecutive title.
It was a fixture full of expectations due to the number of possible outcomes that could come from the matches. On one hand, if La Ensenada won the match, La Aguada would come last in their zone, while Ernesto Gutierrez’s team would secure their place in the 2020 Triple Crown. But if La Aguada claimed the victory, then their fate would depend on the number of goals scored to see how that would impact their place in the ranking.
While La Aguada have not had the greatest season so far, they came out and played their best match of the year. They turned the match around after an unfavourable start, and they scored enough goals to secure their place in the 2020 Triple Crown. La Ensenada lost the match but at the least they still have the chance of qualifying for next year’s championship in the playoff against the winner of the Cámara de Diputados. However, that depends on the number of goals Cría Yatay scores against La Albertina; if it goes their way, La Ensenada could still qualify directly.
RANKING: (*GP – Games Played / *GF – Goals in favour)
1)La Dolfina: 450 Points (3 GP) (55 GF).
2)LD Polo Ranch: 450 Points (3 GP) (49 GF).
3)Las Monjitas: 450 Points (3 GP) (44 GF).
4)Ellerstina: 450 Points (3 GP) (42 GF).
5)La Natividad: 300 Points (4 GP) (44 GF).
6)La Aguada: 150 Points (4 GP) (43 GF).
7)La Ensenada: 150 Points (4 GP) (39 GF).
8)La Irenita: 150 Points (4 GP) (36 GF).
9)Cría Yatay: 0 Points (3 GP) (28 GF).
10)La Albertina: 0 Points (3 GP) (27 GF).
LA AGUADA 17-10 LA ENSENADA
La Aguada: Lucas Díaz Alberdi 7 (2 goals), Alfredo Bigatti 8 (6), Alejandro Novillo Astrada 8 (8, 6 penalties), Ignacio Novillo Astrada 9 (1). Total: 32.
La Ensenada Meta: Facundo Fernández Llorente 7 (2 goals), Juan Gris Zavaleta 8 (1), Juan Martín Zubía 8 (2), Jerónimo del Carril 7 (5, 2 penalties). Total: 30.
Score La Aguada: 0-2, 3-5, 5-6, 6-6, 8-7, 10-8, 13-8, 17-10.
Umpires: Guillermo Villanueva and José I. Araya.
Third man: Martín Pascual.
Best Polo Argentino of the match: Open Easy Game (Sportivo x Easy Go), played by Alfredo Bigatti.
Nomination 1: Ala Ita Tiger (Sportivo x Gambetita), played by Ignacio Novillo Astrada.
Nomination 2: Luca Nebulosa (Open Iphone x Neblina), played by Alfredo Bigatti.
The Argentine Open will resume on Friday:
5pm: La Albertina vs Cria Yatay*
*The loser will have to play the qualification in 2020.
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