Thu 23rd Nov 2017Women’s Argentine OpenHistoric tournament is underway This year sees the first Argentine Open Championship of Women's Polo which began on Tuesday 21 November, with three action-packed matches. The Finals are due to be played on Saturday 2 December at Palermo as a prelude to the 124th Argentine Open Final. Six teams between 23-30 goals (women’s handicaps) are taking part in this historical contest, including a strong contingent of British ladies. The first match of the day saw a truly international line up with female players from France, USA and England playing for the Santa María de Lobos and La Varzea Goose Creek teams. In a close match initially it was Goose Creek who seemed to have the advantage, with an 4-3 lead. However, Santa María went on a goal scoring spree notching up five consecutive goals to win 8-4. Next it was the turn of La Dolfina Brava to test their mettle against La Dolfina Cría Fax on Ground 3. As the only 10 goal player in the tournament and as the highest handicapped lady player in the world, Nina Clarkin seemed unstoppable, notching up seven goals (impressively six of those were field goals). She was ably abetted by her teammates who were similarly formidable, particularly Mia Cambiaso who was able to find the posts four times. In the face of this goal scoring force, Cría Fax were unable to reply and were defeated in a final score of 14-3. The final action of the day was between Ellerstina and La Dolfina Brava II. The match was evenly balanced, as was reflected by the half time score resting at 2 goals apiece. However, due in no small part to the excellent defensive work for Ellerstina by Brit Sarah Wiseman, La Dofina Brava suffered a thirty minute goal scoring drought from the middle of the first chukka until the last. This meant that the firepower of Lia Salvo and UK player Hazel Jackson-Gaona was unleashed to bring the Ellerstina tally to seven goals. In true Vestey style, Tamara Fox was valiant to the last as she replied with two consecutive goals for La Dolfina Brava, but it was a case of too little too late and there was no ambiguity in the final score of 7-4 to Ellerstina. Action from the tournament continues tomorrow, Friday 24 November. The six teams are as follows: Ellerstina (30): Clara Cassino (6), Hazel Jackson-Gaona (8), Lía Salvo (9) & Sarah Wiseman (7) La Dolfina Brava (27): Mía Cambiaso (5), Milagros Fernández Araujo (6), Nina Clarkin (10) & Candelaria Fernández (6) Santa María de Lobos (25): Dawn Laurel Jones (6), Erica Gandomcar (6), Tiffany Busch (7) & Clarissa Echezarreta (6) La Dolfina Brava II (25): Mía Novillo Astrada (4), Tamara Fox (7), María Bellande (6) & Paola Martínez (8) La Dolfina Cría Fax (24): Camila Rossi (5), Marianela Castagnola (8), Emma Tomlinson (5) & Eva Brühl (6) La Varzea Goose Creek (23): Julia Smith (5), Maureen Brennan (6), Annabel McNaught-Davis (6) & Caroline Annier (6) The remaining schedule is below: Friday 24 November: Ellerstina vs La Dolfina Cría Fax (5pm), La Dolfina Brava vs La Varzea Goose Creek (3.30pm), Santa María de Lobos vs La Dolfina Brava II (5pm) Sunday 26 November: Ellerstina vs La Varzea Goose Creek (10.30am), La Dolfina Brava vs La Dolfina Brava II (10.30am), Santa María de Lobos vs La Dolfina Cría Fax (12.30pm) Tuesday 28 November: Semi Finals Saturday 2 December: Finals at Field 2 Palermo Photograph: Action from the Women’s Argentine Open. Courtesy of the AAP |