POLO AROUND THE GLOBE
England Third time is the charm for Les Lions/Great Oak By Gwen Rizzo
ALICE GIPPS
After an unusual, if not difficult, start to the British high-goal season, the top three tournaments were eventually played to empty grandstands at three different clubs. After the global pandemic put a halt to polo, the Hurlingham Polo Association began making plans to get the season started. At the same time, Argentina announced it was halting all incoming and outgoing commercial flights until September. A group of over 100 players and support staff flew out of Argentina on a chartered flight, arriving in England days ahead of government-imposed 14-day quarantine. Shortly after practices began, The Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport announced that only those that earned a living playing sports or those 16 years or older and in an elite pathway program were eligible to begin competitions. This rule essentially prohibited team patrons and other amateurs from playing. It also would have eliminated 14year-old Poroto Cambiaso, who was scheduled to play with his father. The polo association met with the DCMS and legal advisers and the rule was revised to allow teams to play as long as they contained a minimum of three professionals (or elite pathway players) along with a player responsible for putting together and entering the team. Rules were revised to ensure minimal contact between players. Bowl-ins (except to begin overtime) were eliminated. Instead, games began with the team winning a coin flip getting a free hit from the center. After goals were scored, the opponent hit in
Barto Castagnola’s Chalo Angelo was the Queen’s Cup Best Playing Pony.
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from the 60-yard line. Goals were switched after each chukker rather than after each goal. Players were limited to 10 horses each to limit the number of staff needed on site at matches, and players, staff and umpires wore masks during the games. Play began at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club. The club was founded in 1986 by music mogul Bryan Morrison who worked with musical talent such as Pink Floyd, The Bee Gees, George Michael and many more. Morrison converted a 220-acre estate he had purchased the previous year into the club, with the Prince of Wales joining as its first member. The same year, the first Prince of Wales Trophy was played. The tournament was played again this year with seven teams competing in a single-elimination format. Matches began on June 15 and continued everyday for a week with each team getting two matches. Park Place and Les Lions made it to the final, the only teams with 2-0 records. The final was played on June 24. With temperatures hotter than normal—reaching the upper-80s—for the final, officials allowed players time to switch horses midway through each chukker. Alejandro Muzzio put Les Lions on the board 40 seconds into the match but Kian Hall responded for Park Place. The teams battled until Hall scored again with less than 30 seconds left. Park Place took control in the second chukker with a trio of goals from brothers Gonzalo and Facundo Pieres. Barto Castagnola walked in a goal with 17 seconds left in the chukker to keep Les Lions in the game, 5-2. Santiago Laborde cut the deficit early in the third but Muzzio was given a yellow card, which resulted in a Penalty 2 for Park Place. Facundo Pieres had no trouble converting it to double up Les Lions, 6-3, at the half. The second half began with a flurry of fouls. Facundo Pieres converted back-to-back open goal penalties, but Castagnola converted three in a row to bring his team back within two, 8-6. Facundo Pieres scored again to end the chukker ahead by three. A Penalty 2 conversion by Castagnola got the team closer but Gonzalo Pieres responded. Hall stole the ball on a broken knock in and sent it
