US Open Polo Championship: Game time nears

With less than 48 hours away from Sunday’s highly anticipated USPA Gold Cup Final, where Tonkawa and Scone will fight for the title, we can start to look forward to next Sunday’s action and the start of the most important polo tournament in the United States – one of the highlights of the international calendar: the US Open Polo Championship. The competition will be played at International Polo Club Palm Beach, where nine teams, up to 22-goals, are set to compete. It’s worth noting that the 2020 edition was suspended due to the pandemic, meaning that Pilot are still the defending champions. 

 

COMPETITON FORMAT:

  • Teams have been placed into three brackets of three, where they will compete within their bracket.
  • After bracket play, all teams will be ranked from 1-9 based on win-loss record, followed by net goals, then gross goals.
  • Teams ranked 8th and 9th will have a playoff game. The winner will go through to the quarterfinals.
  • After the playoff game, teams will enter the quarterfinals. Teams ranked 1-4 will draw from the remaining teams (5,6,7,8) for quarterfinal pairings.
  • Semifinal pairings will be done by draw with the winners advancing to the final.

 

The final is due on Sunday, April 18th.

 

BRACKET I:

LA INDIANA: Michael Bickford 2, Nico Escobar 4, Jeff Hall 6, Polito Pieres 10. Total: 22.

PILOT: Curtis Pilot 0, Kristos Magrini 2, Gonzalo Pieres 10, Facundo Pieres 10. Total: 22.

SANTA CLARA: Will Johnston 2, Miguel Novillo Astrada 9, Felipe Vercellino 6, Luis Escobar 4. Total: 21.

 

BRACKET II:

TONKAWA: Jeff Hildebrand 0, Lucas Escobar 3, Francisco Elizalde 9, Sapo Caset 10. Total: 22.

ASPEN / DUTTA CORP: Stewart Armstrong 3, Lucas Díaz Alberdi 6, Gringo Colombres 8, Timmy Dutta 4. Total: 21.

CESSNA: Chip Campbell 2, Nino Obregon 7, Ezequiel Martinez Ferrario 7, Jared Zenni 6. Total: 22.

 

BRACKET III:

SCONE: David Paradice 0, Peke González 6, Poroto Cambiaso 6, Adolfo Cambiaso 10. Total: 22.

PARK PLACE: Andrey Borodin 0, Matt Coppola 4, Juan Britos 8, Hilario Ulloa 10. Total: 22.

COCA-COLA: Gillian Johnston 1, Julián de Lusarreta 8, Nico Pieres 9, Mackenzie Weisz 4. Total: 22.

 

The US Open Polo Championship will commence with the following matches:

Sunday, March 28th:

10am: La Indiana vs Santa Clara

Monday, March 29th

10am: Park Place vs Scone

4pm: Aspen / Dutta Corp vs Cessna