PTJan/Feb 2010 p34-37 Home & Abroad JM YC PJ GM MB 21/1/10 16:54 Page 2
Reports At home and abroad
Argentina
Youth and age prove lethal mix
Hernan Alvarez reports on Pato from Palermo, where a team from Buenos Aires province featuring
the 10-goal world number one alongside a veteran of 36 Opens scooped the game’s top prize
H
eavy rain and schedule clashes delayed the traditional Argentine Pato now hot on his team-mate’s heels however, having won the title seven times
Open final by a mammoth three and a half weeks in December. Originally since 1998. And, at 32, he still has plenty of years left in the game.
planned for Sunday 6 December, the day after the original date for the The El Relincho-El Mangrullo-Cardon team is based at a small town in
116th Argentine Open polo final, the 68th pato final was finally played mid-week, Buenos Aires province called Rawson, situated 100 miles west of the city and
on the penultimate day of the decade, 30 December. with a pato tradition dating back to 1944. The players can’t make a living from
El Relincho-El Mangrullo-Cardon defeated defending champions El Siasgo- pato alone and so many play polo as well to supplement their income. Taberna,
Ford Camiones in a thrilling showdown on the number two ground at the famous who was named MVP in the final, has played in the UK since 2001 and plays off
Buenos Aires’s Campo Argentino de Polo to take home the game’s most a two-goal HPA handicap.
prestigious trophy.
Pato’s world number one Nicolas Taberna led the way for the winners, scoring
68th Argentine Pato Open; Palermo, Buenos Aires
eight of their goals en route to a tight 14-13 victory. However, despite the close
Dates: 27 November to 30 December 2009
scoreline, El Relincho-El Mangrullo-Cardon never surrendered the lead from as
Handicap level: Open
early as the beginning of the second chukka, with Taberna affording his side full
Result: El Relincho-El Mangrullo-Cardon beat El Siasgo-Ford Camiones, 14-13
control of the game.
Most valuable player: Nicolas Taberna
Taberna appeared alongside the energetic defensive paring of brothers Juan
Final teams:
Ignacio and Andres Lanfranco, as well as 60-year-old Pato Open veteran Osvaldo
El Relincho-El Mangrullo (32): Nicolas Taberna 10; Juan Ignacio Lanfranco 9; Andres
Inchauspe. Inchauspe has vast experience in the competition, having made his
Lanfranco 7; Osvaldo Inchauspe 6
El Siasgo (33): Facundo Taberna 9; Eduardo D’Araquistain 9; Sergio Pedretti 8; Ignacio
debut in 1973 and now played in 36 Opens, of which he has won 14. Taberna is
Simone 7
Ham South Africa
Summer sun, something’s begun
Good things come
CHILLY MEMBERS AND ORGANISERS at Ham Polo Club are keen to put the snowy and icy ALMOST 3,000 PEOPLE
conditions of a particularly brutal English winter behind them this February, as they look ahead gathered at Clifford Elphick’s
to a busy schedule this summer. Tournaments ranging from -2 through to 12 goal have been five-star Kurland Hotel in
scheduled alongside a packed social calendar including many charity events such as Childline’s Plettenberg Bay early this
Polo at Sunset, the Jaeger–LeCoultre Charity Day and the club’s summer ball. Polo Times also January to witness South
understands there are also plans for friendly international matches at the club and tours to play Africa finally claim their first
overseas for teams made up of the club’s members. scalp in the nine-year
“We’re looking forward to welcoming new friends and new members to the club this history of the Kurland
season,” said chairman Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers. “There are many new ideas in prospect International, beating
for 2010 but the club still sticks to its abiding policy of playing polo for fun!” Australia, 12-10.
The club’s proximity to the capital also makes it a popular venue for Londoners looking to The regular end-of-year
stable their ponies. This season, yard manager Julia Luke has left Manor Farm to run her livery polo destination, between
business out of Fifield – giving Ham the opportunity to take on new professional players with Cape Town and Port
livery for more than 40 ponies now available. Elizabeth on South Africa’s
Top scorer Sbu Duma
southern tip, welcomed
celebrities such as back row rugby international Schalk
Burger and business tycoon Leo Baxter, who enjoyed
£100-a-head champagne VIP entertainment and a gourmet
lunch on the sidelines. The well-lubricated “high-rollers”
combined with hundreds of fans on packed grassy banks
all round the ground and a sold-out pavilion to create a
crescendo of noisy support that echoed around the foothills
of the Tsitsikamma mountains. Together they cheered
South Africa home in the late-afternoon sunshine to their
Ham Polo Club: long-awaited inaugural Kurland International victory.
set for a busy
The spirited South African performance was all the more
year in 2010
significant and pleasurable for the watching supporters
34 January/February 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk
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