Yesterday, Sunday 22 November, the Pieres brothers alongside Hilario Ulloa, followed up their Tortugas Open win by securing the second leg of the Argentine Triple Crown with a 16-11 defeat of RS Murus Sanctus, securing themselves the 127th Hurlingham Open title. This means that Ellerstina remains the only team eligible for the 2020 Triple Crown title, which the team has not held since 2010.
Both Ellerstina and RS Murus Sanctus had met previously in the Semi Finals of The Tortugas Open, which saw Ellerstina secure a narrow 15013 with a nail-biting display of high goal polo; therefore everyone was expecting another close match. RS Murus Sanctus began things well, scoring within the opening seconds, but Ellerstina fought back and built upon solid teamwork to hold back RS Murus Sanctus who struggled to elude Ellerstina and by half-time the scores rested 10-6 in favour of Ellerstina.
In the fifth and sixth chukkas Ellerstina outscored RS Murus Sanctus five goals to one, Facundo Pieres scored 10 goals overall in the Final as is now the top goal scorer of the tournament (30 goals) and also currently for The Triple Crown (56 goals); but in the seventh chukka RS Murus Sanctus fought back with three unanswered goals to bring them within striking distance of Ellerstina. However, RS Murus Sanctus’ hopes were short lived as Ellerstina seized control of the last chukka, with impressive goals by both Ulloa and Facundo Pieres securing Ellerstina a 16-11 win and with it the 127th Hurlingham Open title. A full report will be included in the next issue of Polo Times, why not gift a friend a subscription for Christmas by clicking
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The Hurlingham Open Final Teams:
Ellerstina (39): Facundo Pieres (10), Hilario Ulloa (10), Gonzalo Pieres (9) & Nico Pieres (10)
RS Murus Sanctus (35): Facundo Sola (9), Francisco Elizalde (8), Sapo Caset (10) & Alfredo Cappella Barabucci (8)
Photograph: Ellerstina, winners of the 127th Hurlingham Open, By Matías Callejo / Prensa AAP