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The 10th annual Casa de Campo Copa Semana Santa presented by CasaLife magazine, got off to a great start yesterday Thursday April 10th with the SBG polo team taking victory over El Pitirri.
Here Calixto García-Vélez, Director of Polo and Equestrian for Casa de Campo and manager of sports for The Sporting Life, gives us an overview of the 2 opening games.
Casa de Campo Copa Semana Santa – First Round, by Calixto García-Vélez
A great performance from the young stars of the Sofias Bar & Grill team, who kicked off the the 10th annual Casa de Campo Copa Semana Santa polo tournament, going head to head with El Pitirri.
Unfortunately Mauricio Bogaert co-sponsor of the SBG team could not play due to an injury in practice last week, but his spot was more than adequately filled by seasoned veteran RR Garcia. While the addition of 5 goal polo pro Juan Crespo from Argentina, proved to be a shrewd move as he used his players like a chess champion moves his pawns. Pedro Pablo Cabrera the other half of the Sofias Bar & Grill (SBG) team had a very good game both on offence and defence as he was tasked with marking Rafa Perez Diez the strong back of El Pitirri.
The game unfolded with SBG taking a 6-1 lead in the second chukker and 7-2 in the third. But slowly and with great effort the team back of El Pitirri, Rafa Diez Perez combining with goals from Carlos Cortes and “El Flaco” Engelberto Maldonado, El Pitirri started to score goals. And while the very fast horses of Rafa Diez Perez in the last two chukkas lifted his team, the combinations between the combined force of Juan Crespo and Heriberto Constanza in defence and offence made the difference, leading to a well-deserved 9-8 victory for SBG.
In the second match of the day the teams of La Chamuscada and La Lechuza gave the audience everything they could ask for. La Lechuza seemed to have a big disadvantage when playing against a team with two great players – Denis Sentana and Cesar Crespo, and yet they maintained their lead throughout the entire match. Starting out with with (3) ** hcp goals on the board, La Lechuza eventually won by that same 12-9 advantage.
The 10th annual Casa de Campo Copa Semana Santa continues tomorrow, Saturday April 12th with games at 3pm and 5pm.
Casa de Campo Copa Semana Santa
The (tentative) games schedule is as follows:
Thursday April 10th, 3pm & 5pm
Saturday April 12th, 3pm & 5pm
Tuesday April 15th, 3pm & 5pm
Semi-finals: Thursday April 17th, 3pm & 5pm
Final and celebration: Saturday April 19th, from 3pm