Sun 16th Dec 2018The 125th Argentine Open FinalLa Dolfina to face Las Monjitas today
Today will see the Final of one of the world’s most prestigious polo tournaments, The 125th Argentine Open at Palermo, Argentina. This year’s Final has an added interest as it sees 11 time champions La Dolfina (five wins with the current line-up) up against first time Argentine Open finalists Las Monjitas. This is not the first time these teams have met on the polo field this season. La Dolfina secured their Hurlingham Open Final spot having defeated Las Monjitas 11-8 in the Semis but having only dropped three games total in this year’s Triple Crown, perhaps today could be signal change for the boys in orange. La Dolfina have had a relatively strong season, first winning The Tortugas Open 11-9 against age-old rivals Ellerstina, but then losing to the same rivals 12-11 in The Hurlingham Open. This 40 goal powerhouse team rarely make mistakes, however a chink their armour surfaced in the Semi Finals of the 2017 Hurlingham Open, when they lost to Alegría. Following so many years at the top, could 2018 finally see the end of La Dolfina’s dominance? 37 goal Las Monjitas, on the other hand, are a crowd favourite, with youth and determination on their side. Facundo Sola, Hilario Ulloa and Guillermo ‘Sapo’ Caset were three out of the four players that trounced La Dolfina in the 2017 Hurlingham Open Semi Final (with Alegría) and with the addition of the Las Monjitas backing and string as well as their own impressive strings at their disposal, this team are one to watch. Following the shock announcement of Julian ‘Negro’ de Lusarreta’s drop after The Tortugas Open, experienced back Santiago Toccalino has done nothing but bring the team even closer together supporting the other three attack-heavy players up front. One thing’s for sure, the thousands strong crowd present at the hallowed Palermo grounds today are set to witness two exciting games of world class polo, with The II Women’s Argentine Open beginning proceedings between El Overo Z7 and La Dolfina Brava followed by the Men’s Final at 5pm. The 125th Argentine Open Final Teams: La Dolfina (40): Pablo Mac Donough (10), David ‘Pelón’ Stirling (10), Adolfo Cambiaso (10) & Juan Martín Nero (10) Las Monjitas (37): Facundo Sola (9), Hilario Ulloa (10), Guillermo ‘Sapo’ Caset (10) & Santiago Toccalino (8) The II Women’s Argentine Open Final Teams: El Overo Z7 UAE (32): Clara Cassino (7), Hazel Jackson-Gaona (9), Lía Salvo (9) & Sarah Wiseman (7) La Dolfina Brava (31): Mía Cambiaso (6), Milagros Fernández Araujo (7), Nina Clarkin (10) & Candelaria Fernández Araujo (8) Photograph: La Dolfina will take on Las Monjitas in the Final of The 125th Argentine Open today. By ©www.imagesofpolo.com |