The 123rd edition of the Argentine Open saw a new format with some surprising results but the end result was still the same: La Dolfina Sancor Seguros won its 10th victory over Ellerstina Johor 16-12.

At the end of last June, the Argentine Polo Association officially made a fundamental change in the format of the Argentine Open, modifying the schedule to increase the chances of less powerful teams to be successful while adding two matches to the game schedule. The new system divided the eight teams into two brackets with the teams playing each of the other teams in its bracket.

he best team in each bracket automatically earned a spot in the semifinals while the second and third place teams played quarter-final matches against the teams from the other bracket with the same placing.

The implementation of the new system can best be explained by a quote Italian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa made famous in his book “Il Gattopardo”: “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.”

The latest edition of the most important tournament on the planet released a new design, had surprising results but finally confirmed a tradition: La Dolfina Sancor Seguros lifted the champion cup guided by an extraordinary Adolfo Cambiaso.

Preliminary matches began on Saturday, November 12. Only three days after losing the Hurlingham Open final, La Dolfina Sancor Seguros (Adolfo Cambiaso, David Stirling, Pablo Mac Donough and Juan Martín Nero) was in action on Palermo’s Field 2 against one of the quartets coming from the qualifying competition: Cría Yatay Colony (Guillermo Terrera, Cristian Laprida, Joaquín Pittaluga and Ignacio Laprida). The 10-goal difference in handicap became 15 on the field, with a solid and efficient game from Cambiaso (12 goals) and company, that ended up with a huge 22-7 win in Bracket A.

Later, on Field 1, Alegría Assist Card (Guillermo Caset, Hilario Ulloa, Lucas Monteverde and Frederick Mannix) got more advantages than expected before Washington Fly Emirates (Diego Cavanagh, Ezequiel Martinez Ferrario, Facundo Sola and Alfredo Cappella Barabucci). In a duel of scorers (Ulloa scored 10 and Sola nine), Alegría celebrated a clear 18-13 win, the third win against Washington in the season.

The bad weather deferred the beginning of Bracket B playoffs until Monday, November 14. Ellerstina Johor (Facundo Pieres, Pablo Pieres, Gonzalo Pieres and Nicolás Pieres) had no problem with La Irenita (Juan Ruiz Guiñazú, Juan Martin Zavaleta, Clemente Zavaleta and Matías Mac Donough), the other team coming from the qualifier. On Field 2, the Pieres men consolidated their lead at the start (12-4 at halftime) and managed to finish 17-10.

Field 1 saw one of the most emotional crossings of the opening date: La Aguada- Las Monjitas (Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Eduardo Novillo Astrada, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Ignacio Novillo Astrada) against El Paraíso (Agustín Merlos, Ignacio Toccalino, Ignacio Heguy and Santiago Toccalino). These two quartets with the same handicap (35) could not break the tie in eight chukkers in which both squads had their moment of domination. With the score 12-12 at the end of regulation time, an extra chukker was necessary. In just 33 seconds, Negro Novillo Astrada got the goal for the NA brothers, allowing them to close the third duel between these teams in positive way (11-10 in Tortugas, 10-11 in Hurlingham).

The second round began on November 19. For Bracket A, on Field 2, Alegría Assist Card spent more trouble than expected to remain unbeaten before Cría Yatay Colony. In fact, Fred Mannix’s team was at a disadvantage until the middle of the fifth chukker. A flurry in the sixth period (3-0) allowed Alegría to secure the laborious 9-7 victory.

The procedure for La Dolfina Sancor Seguros was different. On Field 1 against Washington Fly Emirates, the 40-goal men were so confident in a win, they dedicated themselves to trying mares they were considering for more decisive matches. With well-rounded scoring (six from Cambiaso, and five from Stirling and Mac Donough), the defending champion sealed a wide 18-8 win.

The next day, Bracket 2’s La Aguada- Las Monjitas had to perspire enough to leave behind La Irenita, who, with order and spirit, evened the score 8-8 when they had completed 35 minutes of play. In the last three chukkers, thanks to the goals of the younger Novillo Astrada (Alejandro converted eight), the brothers secured a 14-10 victory. In the Cathedral, Ellerstina Johor showed a flawless performance to leave behind a tough opponent like El Paraíso that resisted until a barrage of goals by Ellerstina in the fourth chukker (4-0) defined its fate. Facundo Pieres was the scorer of the afternoon (eight goals), but his brother Nicolás showed off in his new position at back to get the 13-8 victory.

The last qualification day brought the first surprises to Palermo. On November 22, Cría Yatay Colony amazed everyone after beating Washington Fly Emirates to earn a place in the quarterfinals. The clash on Field 2 was a hard-fought match in which Cría Yatay took advantage in the sixth chukker with a 6-2 partial to enter the last episode up 13-9, thanks to a huge production by Joaquín Pittaluga (eight goals). Washington, coached by Pepe Heguy, struggled to force equality, but came up one goal short: 13-12.

On Field 1 there was no place for unexpected things. La Dolfina Sancor Seguros rolled Alegría Assist Card with another display of offensive power (Cambiaso, Stirling and Mac Donough converted half a dozen each) to seal a convincing 20-10 win that put La Dolfina in the semifinal.

The next day there was a second surprise, also on Field 2. La Irenita was not frightened by the five-goal disadvantage against El Paraíso and came back to win 14-12. The big difference was achieved in the sixth chukker, with a 3-0 ride thanks to Juan Ruiz Guiñazú (author of 11 goals in the match) to escape 10-6.

In the next 14 minutes Matías Mac Donough displayed his experience on the turf to reach the end with an unexpected success, allowing the two teams that came from the qualifier to score victories in Palermo for the first time in history.

In the second round, on Field 1, Ellerstina left no doubt and scored the third triumph of the tournament in a family duel against La Aguada-Las Monjitas: it was victory for the Pieres team by 14-9 against the Novillo Astradas who had to play the second part of the match with Francisco Elizalde replacing Ignacio Novillo Astrada, badly injured after suffering a fall.

The quarter-finals took place after the weekend, on Monday, November 28. Palermo opened with a new novelty: on Field 2, a women’s test match was played for the first time between Argentina and England, in which the local quartet (Mía Cambiaso, María Bellande, Lía Salvo and Paola Martínez) defeated England (Hazel Jackson, Tamara Fox, Sarah Wiseman and Claire Brougham) by a wide 13-3.

Then all eyes moved to Field 1 where almost the third surprise of the Open occurred. During seven periods, Alegría Assist Card confirmed its favoritism and after a balanced start, was building a four-goal lead (12-8). La Irenita came out with everything in the last chukker and conquered three goals to turn the stadium into a cauldron when it was close to converting the equalizer. But it fell short and Hilario Ulloa, with his eighth goal of the match, sealed the 13-11 victory for Alegría.

The surprise that did not happen on Monday occurred on Tuesday. Cría Yatay Colony was not impressed by the history of La Aguada-Las Monjitas, which had to change its structure since Nacho Novillo Astrada had not recovered. Alejandro Novillo Astrada played back and Elizalde moved to No. 1. With every minute that passed in the Cathedral grew the certainty of a historic day. And when the eight chukkers were closed and the scoreboard exhibited 14-10 for the Cría Yatay Colony, the feat was fulfilled. “We already won Palermo,” said Magoo Laprida, the figure of the afternoon.

In the semifinals, there was no place for shockers. On Saturday, December 3, Cría Yatay Colony returned to La Cathedral to face a team as La Dolfina Sancor Seguros going for its 16th final out of 17 disputed Opens (since its creation, it only missed in 2004).

Cría Yatay Colony would get a second chance with La Dolfina after its first round game ended in a 22-7 defeat. If that score was any measure of La Dolfina’s strength, this time Cambiaso & Co. left no room for doubts. It played every minute in depth to complete one of the three biggest goal differences in history: 27-4 with 10 coming from Adolfito and nine from Nero. In spite of the beating, the defeated left with their heads held high because of the round of applause they received recognizing that they were the first team to come from the qualifier to reach the top four.

On Sunday, December 4, it was another course. Ellerstina Johor and Alegría Assist Card had already met in the previous two tournaments with both victories going Ellerstina’s way by just a pair of goals (11-9 and 16-14). And again, there was a collision in which both quartets alternated in control of the game and score in the initial 35 minutes.

Between the sixth and seventh chukkers appeared the forcefulness of the Pieres men, sealing a 6-0 run, to unlocked the match and reach a 15-11 victory, which led the Pieres to reaching their 10th definition in the last 12 years.

La Dolfina and Ellerstina met on Saturday, December 10 for the 39th time (14 of those matches in Palermo). At stake was the honor of the 2016 season and the most desired cup on the planet. That is why both teams bet on the game of attack and came out playing a fast and pleasant match for the audience that filled the seats in the Cathedral. Ellerstina took a one-goal advantage that it maintained until the end of the first half (7-6), while Cambiaso seemed a more “human” player, making some mistakes rarely seen.

After two periods without differences (11-11), Adolfito showed his skills as a leader and guided his team to a remarkable seventh period in which they achieved a three-goal advantage. There were seven minutes left and memories of La Dolfina’s incredible loss in the Hurlingham final, with a similar difference, flew over Palermo. But this time there was no doubts. David Stirling completed a dream final and converted his sixth goal of the afternoon to confirm the win.

The conversions of Facundo Pieres (best scorer of the game with eight) and Nero, gave shape to the final score: 16-12 for La Dolfina to confirm its historic record against Ellerstina (25-14), allowing the club from Cañuelas to conquer the most important trophy in the world for the 10th time.

“We knew how to stand up and we showed that we are still hungry for glory,” said Stirling, MVP of the final so he received the Gonzalo Heguy Trophy. The Uruguayan also won the Gonzalo Tanoira Prize for being the best mounted player of the contest and the Lady Susan Townley Cup for the best horse in the final thanks to his mare Zippi. The Javier Novillo Astrada prize to the scorer of the championship was for Cambiaso, author of 40 goals. Nero received the Fomento Equino Cup for being the best mounted player of the final.

– By Ernesto Rodriguez • Photos by Sergio Llamera