Yesterday three good encounters gave start to the historical 1. Argentine Open Polo Championship for Women. Results: Santa María de Lobos vs. La Varzea Goose Creek 8 – 4, La Dolfina Brava vs. La Dolfina Cría 14 – 3, Ellerstina vs. The Dolfina Brava II 7 – 4. The second of the three qualifying rounds will be played on Friday the 24th.
Yesterday, November 22nd, 2017 was a historic day for the Women’s Polo. At the Alfredo Lalor Headquarters of the AAP in Pilar, the first Argentine Open Polo Championship for Women began.
In the first round, on court 7, Santa María de Lobos defeated La Varzea Goose Creek by 8 to 4, in an “international” meeting in which six US, one English and one French player participated. It was a very even match during the first four chukkers, in which Erica Gandomcar (author of the first goal in tournament history) and Caroline Anier stood out. With the game 4-3 in favor of LV Goose Creek, the last two periods were a monologue of Santa Maria, which managed 5 consecutive goals to achieve a comfortable win. In addition to the game of Gandomcar, two great goals by Dawn Laurel Jones, the wife of the well-known Hollywood actor, Tommy Lee Jones, stood out.
Then, on court 3, La Dolfina Brava played an excellent game and achieved a resounding victory against La Dolfina Cría Fax by 14-3. Since the initial throw-in, Nina Clarkin – the only player to hold a 10 goal handicap – managed the reins of the match scoring six of her team’s goals. Greatly assembled, the sisters Milagros and Candelaria Fernández Araujo with Mía Cambiaso, managed to convert each of the goal plays they had and left without chances to the good set of Cría Fax, who fought throughout the match but could not put together a game.
At the end of the day, Ellerstina faced The Dolfina Brava II on court 5. Both teams played an absolutely even and fought match that had the peculiarity of having two chukkers that finished 0-0. While Brava II scored two penalty kicks at the start of the match, Ellerstina won the draw with goals from their best players of the day, Hazel Jackson and Lía Salvo, before the end of the first chukker. From there grew the figure of the British Sarah Wiseman in the defense, who helped a lot that the Brava girls were almost 30 minutes of the game without converting (from the middle of the first chukker until the last minutes of the last period) . That’s where the girls of Ellerstina took advantage and managed to get 7-2, until Tamara Fox achieved two consecutive goals for Brava II to come close and finish only 4-7 below.
The second of the three qualifying dates will be played on Friday the 24th. We remember that after those three days there will be semifinals among the best four and finally the tournament will be defined in the Argentine Polo Field in Palermo on Saturday 2/12, as a prelude to the decisive match of the 124th Argentine Open HSBC Polo Championship.
