Hours away from the much awaited USPA Gold Cup Final, due on Sunday, where Tonkawa and Scone will be fighting for the title, also next Sunday will see the kick-off of the most important polo tournaments in the United States and definitely one of the highlights of the international calendar: the US Open Polo Championship. The competition will take place at the International Polo Club Palm Beach and will feature a total of 9 teams up to 22 goals. It’s worth remembering that the 2020 edition was suspended due to the pandemic of the Covid, so Pilot remain as defending champions.
Format of competition:
-Teams have been placed into three brackets of three and they will play within their bracket.
-After bracket play, all teams will be ranked 1-9 based on win-loss record, followed by net goals, then gross goals.
-Teams ranked 8th and 9th will have a playoff game. The winner will go through to the quarterfinals.
-After the playoff game, teams will enter the quarterfinals. Teams ranked 1-4 will draw from the remaining teams (5,6,7,8) for quarterfinal pairings.
-Semifinal pairings will be done by draw with the winners advancing to the final.
The final is due on Sunday, April 18th.
BRACKET I:
LA INDIANA: Michael Bickford 2, Nico Escobar 4, Jeff Hall 6, Polito Pieres 10. Total: 22.
PILOT: Curtis Pilot 0, Kristos Magrini 2, Gonzalo Pieres 10, Facundo Pieres 10. Total: 22.
SANTA CLARA: Will Johnston 2, Miguel Novillo Astrada 9, Felipe Vercellino 6, Luis Escobar 4. Total: 21.
BRACKET II:
TONKAWA: Jeff Hildebrand 0, Lucas Escobar 3, Francisco Elizalde 9, Sapo Caset 10. Total: 22.
ASPEN / DUTTA CORP: Stewart Armstrong 3, Lucas Díaz Alberdi 6, Gringo Colombres 8, Timmy Dutta 4. Total: 21.
CESSNA: Chip Campbell 2, Nino Obregon 7, Ezequiel Martinez Ferrario 7, Jared Zenni 6. Total: 22.
BRACKET III:
SCONE: David Paradice 0, Peke González 6, Poroto Cambiaso 6, Adolfo Cambiaso 10. Total: 22.
PARK PLACE: Andrey Borodin 0, Matt Coppola 4, Juan Britos 8, Hilario Ulloa 10. Total: 22.
COCA-COLA: Gillian Johnston 1, Julián de Lusarreta 8, Nico Pieres 9, Mackenzie Weisz 4. Total: 22.
The US Open Polo Championship will be kicking off as follows:
Sunday, March 28th:
10am: La Indiana vs Santa Clara
Monday, March 29th
10am: Park Place vs Scone
4pm: Aspen / Dutta Corp vs Cessna