Entries in Chukker (1)
Celebrating the Polo Victory w. La Dolfina
Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 01:29PM 
(Greco and I with Lucas Monteverde of La Dolfina)
Argentina is home to the greatest Polo players (and teams) in the world. So, when we had the opportunity to see the championship game of the sport's biggest tournament right here in Buenos Aires, we jumped on it. The final of the Argentine Open was between Ellerstina and La Dolfina. It was the prodigy vs. the legend - Facundo Pieres vs. Adolfo Cambiaso. The magnitude and importance of this match in the Polo world was nothing short of epic. The match went into sudden death overtime and definitely didn't disappoint (neither did the after party).
THE HYPE:
Players are all ranked on Handicap from 1 to 10 (best) and this was the first time in the history that 2 teams of 40 goals ( 4 x 10 - the perfect handicap) meet in the final. In the last Hurlington Open semifinal Ellerstina beat La Dolfina by 6 goals. Players of La Dolphina say that they only care about The Argentine Open.
Adolfo Cambiaso (La Dolfina), the Michael Jordan of Polo, reached a handicap of 10 when he was 19 years old and 8 months, making him the youngest player in history to do so at that moment. He is now 34.
Facundo Pieres (Ellerstina), Polo's Kobe Bryant, reached his 10 handicap at 19 years and 7 months, beating out Adolfo by a month and taking over the youngest player honor. He is now 23.