There is Polo . . . and then there is Argentine Polo !
Yes , the incredible Polo ponies and their uber-skilled masters are the real stars , but the overall atmosphere within and outside of the Cathedral of Polo is what makes this tournament so unique and fun .
When the tournament kicked off on November 12th , there was a great deal of anxiety on the part of the players and fans regarding the few changes that were implemented . For this tournament , eight teams would play : the six teams automatically classified following their performances in 2015 , plus the best two teams from the tournament held from September 23 . These eight teams would then be divided into two groups or zones . Each group would play a round-robin style tournament where the top ranked team from each group would go on to the Semi Finals while the second and third-ranked would play a new cross-played Quarter Final section .
If it sounds confusing , it wasn ’ t really . The second placed team from Group A was to play the third placed team from Group B and vice versa . The winners of the Quarter Finals would then play the overall group winners in a Semi Final . Such format changes actually meant that the tournament would last longer by adding three extra match dates , making the tournament even more exciting !
The eight teams that went all out to win the 123rd Open were :
Zone A : La Dolfina , Alegria , Washington and the highest handicap qualified team Zone B : Ellerstina , La Aguada , La Mariana
The first two matches that opened the tournament on November 12th represented Zone A : La Dolfina vs . Cria Yatay with La Dolfina winning 22 to 7 with 12 goals made by Adolfo Cambiaso . The second match was disputed between Alegría vs . Washington , in which Alegria defeated
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