INSIDE POLO by Ron Allen

 

The first round of the US Open is in the books and the teams will now focus on trying to make it to the Elite Eight quarterfinals of America’s biggest tournament. On opening day Coca-Cola launched a major come from behind effort to win on the strength of a solid 5^th chukker beating Audi 12 to 11. The game saw the return of Audi patron Marc Ganzi (1) to the field after being sidelined for several weeks with a broken thumb. Zorzal beat ERG 10 – 8 in the second game of the double header on a great go ahead goal by Fred Mannix (6) with two minutes left in the match.

Fred Mannix - Zorzal

Day two matches saw Lechuza with a one-goal lead at half time against Piaget then Lechuza went on a tear on the fifth leading 12 to 8. Paulito Pieres (8) with nine goals on the day to pace a big 14 to 11 victory. Faraway struggled against a well-balanced Alegria team as Facundo Obregon (6) knocked in four goals for the Alegria win 11 to 7.

Facundo Obregon - Alegria

The Sunday triple-header saw Valiente beat up on Coca-Cola 15 to 7. In overtime Audi edged out Zorzal after Jeff Hall (7) grabbed the ball in the thrown and ran to score for Audi. Final: 11-10. The other “Z” team, Zacara, scored 4 goals in 4 minutes in the fifth chukker to defeat Orchard Hill 12 to 10. Mike Azzaro (7) showing his old 10-goal prowess on offence for the winners.

Four teams remain undefeated going into week two:

Zacara – 2012 Open winner

Lechuza – 2011 Open winner

Valiente – 2013 Gold Cup winner

Alegria – with 2 players who have won the Open in the past

 

 

Julian Mannix - Alegria

 

Ron Allen works for ESPN Television and Pololine TV

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