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Last Saturday the 23rd of April, otherwise known as Sábado Santo and a day when the Dominican Republic parties as if it were New Years, the final of the Semana Santa Polo Tournament was played and celebrated with a fantastic champagne-fuelled party! The Semana Santa Polo Tournament began 2 weeks before on Saturday the 9th of April with 5 teams playing in the ‘Alto’ league (10-14 goles) and 4 teams playing in the ‘Bajo’ league (4-6 goles). The best polo teams in the Dominican Republic played in this coveted and prestigious tournament, which came to a glorious ending on Sábado Santa, when team ‘TPago’ were crowned the winners of the ‘Alto’ league and team ‘Chamuscada’ the victors of the ‘Bajo’ league. With the sun high and hot in the sky, Casa de Campo’s villa owners joined polo lovers from across the country to watch the 2 final matches, whilst sipping on Perrier Jouet champagne, Grey Goose frozen cocktails, Brahma beer and Dewars 12 on the rocks. The first match began at 3pm and was played between ‘Lechuza’ and ‘Chamuscada’ from the ‘Bajo’ league, a furiously fast paced game, with the 2 teams desperate to steal the glory and the trophies after 2 weeks of hard work to get to the final! Throughout the entire game the two teams were neck and neck, but in the end ‘Chamuscada’ stole the victory by just 1 point winning with 11 goles to 10. Team players of ‘Chamuscada’; Alejandro Tirado,  Jaime Garcia, Johnny Alvarez and Anton Casasnova were then able to relax and enjoy their victory with the crowd, their friends and their fellow polo players from ‘Lechuza’, Luis A. de Borbon, Alfredo Vargas, Ramon Espinal and Fransisco Garrigo. Meanwhile the final game of the Semana Santa Polo Tournament between ‘Alto’ league teams ‘TPago’ and ‘La Carbuccia’ took place, a match which turned out to be yet another fearsomely fast and aggressive match – you could really tell both teams wanted to be the ones to shake and spray the champagne during the prize-giving! In the end, after many a tense moment and as the sun started to set, Tpago were victorious with 13 goles to 8!

Tpago celebrate their victory!

Following the end of the last match, the prize-giving was held, with trophies and speeches from the Director of Polo, Calixto Garcia-Velez and Alfonso Paniagua, a light sprinkling of champagne and a shower of silver confetti. Once the prizes had been awarded and the players cleared the stage, the celebration began in ernest as a DJ up-ed the tempo and the guests started to dance!

A fantastic celebration!

Here are my photos of everyone having a great time: [nggallery id=800]
This article was written by Rebecca Hughes, editor of Casa de Campo Living and Casa de Campo’s entertainment specialist! Rebecca Hughes, Editorial and Events Marketing rhughes@casadecampoliving.com TEL: 809-523-2045   CEL: 809-949-8906 (evenings and weekends) BBM: 230DA5D1 Altos de Chavón, Casa de Campo This article was produced exclusively for www.casadecampoliving.com