Argentine Open: Pilara Piaget defeats Sao Jose Audi, qualifies for semis
Pilara Piaget once again proved critics wrong by defeating Sao Jose Audi in the quarterfinal match of the 117th Argentine Open Polo Championship Bicentennial Movistar (117° Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo del Bicentenario
Movistar) at the Catedral del Polo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and qualified for the semifinal stage of the tournament.
Due to its previous track record, critics were not expecting much of a performance from the Pilara Piaget team, which did not perform well in the Hurlingham and Tortugas Cups earlier this year, owing to absence of its player Marcos
Heguy, who was out with an injury. Therefore, the team’s 18-12 thrashing of the Sao Jose Audi foursome 18-12 came as a surprise. The Sao Jose Audi team has been ousted from the competition for the Triple Crown of polo.
Brothers Sebastian and Agustin Merlos of Pilara Piaget, along with teammates Tomas Garcia del Rio and Santiago Chavanne, delivered outstanding performances against Sao Jose Audi and made victory possible.
The Argentine Open Polo Championship is the most important interclub polo tournament in the world, and started in 1893 at the Catedral del Polo, which also makes it the world’s oldest polo tournament. The competition takes place
among the best polo clubs of Argentina, and attracts millions of polo-lovers and tourists from around the globe.
Eight clubs are participating in the 117th Argentine Open Polo Championship: Ellerstina 40, La Dolfina 39, La Aguada 37, Chapa Uno 35, Indios Chapaleufu II 34, Alegria 34, Pilara Piaget 33, and Sao Jose Audi 30.
Many betters lost millions of dollars upon the triumph of Pilara Piaget in the first quarterfinals of the tournament, as it was completely beyond general expectations and Sao Jose Audi were considered to be the favourites to win
the tournament.
The Sao Jose Audi team - Rodrigo Ribeiro de Andrade, Jaime Garcia Huidobro, Nicolas Pieres and Pablo Pieres Jr. – displayed an adequate performance in the first three chukkers of the match. Both squads were playing the game quite
aggressively, but it was Sao Jose Audi that topped the scoreboard by the end of the first half, putting Pilara Piaget under pressure.
However, the Sao Jose Audi foursome could not maintain its performance in the second half, playing quite a few fouls. Pilara Piaget took advantage of the fouls and scored several goals, dashing the dreams of Sao Jose Audi for a
berth in the semifinals.
The score after the completion of four chukkers leveled at 7-7, but the speed of Sao Jose Audi’s ponies decreased, completely changing the face of the scoreboard. Sao Jose Audi’s Garcia Huidobro made two back-to-back mistakes,
resulting in two successful goals for Pilara Piaget, which came out of the chukker 11-8.
Pilara Piaget scored five goals in the fifth chukker, against the solitary goal scored by Sao Jose Audi. Some more goals were scored in the final chukker and the Pilara Piaget team finished ahead at 18-12 by completion of time.
With the winning goal by Agustin Merlos, Pilara Piaget won the match and confirmed its place in the semifinals of the 117th Argentine Open Polo Championship.
The highest scorer of the match was Agustin Merlos, who marked 11 goals of which nine were scored on penalty shots. Tomas Garcia del Rio also performed well, contributing three goals.
Pilara Piaget will face La Dolfina in the second semifinal of the 117th Argentina Open Polo Championship on December 4th at Field 1 of the Campo Argentino de Polo.
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