The fourth and final tournament of the Polo Challenge RD 2017 began on Saturday at Casa de Campo. Four teams of up to 26 goals are participating in this cup. Lechuza Caracas and Cinque Terre were the teams in charge of kicking off the tournament.
Both teams have had some changes on their line-ups, due to the fact that the last tournaments were up to 22 goals. Lolo James replaced Alfredo Vargas in Lechuza; while Cinque Terre now counts with Cubi Toccalino and Nacho Novillo Astrada that have replaced Juan Ambroggio and Toto Collardin.
The match kicked off even and open. But suddenly, Gonzalo Mendoza had to enter to step up for Alessandro Bazzoni who was injured. Thanks to the goals by Pelon Stirling and Santi Toccalino, the first chukka ended on a tie, 1-1. The second chukka couldn’t have been more different: Lechuza managed to impose their game and scored three goals. The chukka ended on 5-3 in favor of the Venezuelans. The second half of the game was rowdier and more even, the defenses and attacks from both teams were on point. The backs Nacho Novillo Astrada and Juanma Nero scored, and defined the game. Lechuza won this first match by 8-5.
The Caribbean Open continues on Wednesday with the following match: Agualinda HPA vs. Casa de Campo.
Caribbean Open Teams
Casa de Campo
Leo Matos
Francisco Bensadon
Silvestre Donovan
Fred Mannix
Lechuza Caracas
Victor Vargas
Andres James
David Stirling
Juan Martin Nero
Cinque Terre
Alessandro Bazzoni
Ignacio Toccalino
Santiago Toccalino
Ignacio Novillo Astrada
Agualinda HPA
Julian Mannix
Juan Ambroggio
Gonzalo Deltour
Gerardo Collardin
Caribbean Open Fixture
Saturday, April 1st
Lechuza Caracas vs. Cinque Terre
Wednesday, April 5th
Agualinda-HPA vs. Casa de Campo
Saturday, April 8th
Casa de Campo vs. Cinque Terre
Agualinda-HPA vs. Lechuza Caracas
Wednesday April 12th
Casa de Campo vs. Lechuza
Cinque Terre vs. Agualinda-HPA
Friday, April 14th
Subsidiary finals
3 vs. 4
Final Caribbean Open
1 vs. 2
THE POLO CHALLENGE RD
Polo Challenge RDThe Polo Challenge represents Polo’s first high season in Central America and the Caribbean based in the Dominican Republic. The series of 4 tournaments of up to 22 goals is made during the months of January to April and is conformed by: Gold Cup, Silver Cup, Bronze Cup and Caribbean Open.
Casa de Campo, Los Establos / Cap Cana, and Lechuza are the 3 chosen venues, with first level courts prepared to receive players of the size of the 10 handicap goals. The Polo Challenge is an event for the whole family that inaugurates its first season in January 2016.
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