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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