“The game was very brave. Very, very brave. In the previous final they played incredibly and beat us well. This time we played very well, all four of us, and that’s why we beat a team that has just won the Gold Cup and which is a great team, with an incredible organization and players “. Happy as rarely, Bartolomé Castagnola (h.) Counted on why Les Lions / Great Oaks, his team and his brother Camilo’s team, had defeated Next Generation, his uncle Adolfo Cambiaso and his cousin “Poroto “Change.
The fledgling family classic of contemporary polo had had a momentous chapter 20 days earlier, when the Cambiasos were crowned at the British Open and lifted the Gold Cup thanks to a 14-12 at Cowdray. This time, the Castagnolas prevailed, in another relevant match but not as much as that one, and advanced to the semifinals for the prestigious and respected Queen’s Cup, in Windsor. They triumphed 11-10 in a supplementary chukker, with a decisive goal from Camilo “Jeta” Castagnola. “A revenge for the final? I don’t think so. That’s it: we lost that final and we have to turn the page. Now we focus well on this: it was an important match, in the quarterfinals, and we beat a great team. We had to play well, because if you don’t, you won’t beat that team. It’s one of the best of the season” said the 17-year-old after a very intense game with a lot of tension and important moments.
His uncle did not have a good time, and not only because of the result: Adolfo Cambiaso received a blow to the ear in the second chukker. The Next Generation leader felt and then, in the fifth, some pain in his sciatic nerve caused him to leave the court, impressing everyone in the game.
He was replaced by Juan Martín Zubía in the middle of the game, and his discomfort continued: until the night he still felt a buzzing. “Boys play well,” he alluded to his nephews. And despite the negative afternoon for him, there was room for a positive balance of the season. “I am happy with Poroto’s evolution, playing as equals against the good guys. He had a great advance” he said about his son. The next rival, the Monterosso’s Alessandro Bazzoni.
Bazzoni showed an interesting development in the field and it would be an interesting match for Cambiaso. After a long career, he continues to gather victories and escalate in the professional world.
Something similar had happened with Poroto Cambiaso, raised from 4 to 5 with the running of the circuit. The British season is over for his father, but not for him: Adolfo will remain in England as long as his descendant continues to play for the Royal Windsor Cup. Together, father and son obtained it two years ago and were awarded by the monarch Elizabeth II. Now, the 14-year-old shares a team in that championship with his cousin Barto Castagnola, 19.
Park Place won the first tournament of the English season, the Prince of Wales Trophy, and then fell in the semi-finals of the British Open to Les Lions / Great Oaks.
Starting teams:
Les Lions/Great Oaks (23): Camilo Castagnola, 7; Dillon Bacon, 2; Bartolomé Castagnola (h.), 8, y Santiago Laborde, 6.
Next Generation (23): Jean-Francois Decaux, 0; Adolfo “Poroto” Cambiaso, 4; Diego Cavanagh, 9, y Adolfo Cambiaso, 10.
Scone (22): David Paradice, 0; Oliver Cudmore, 6; Nicolás Pieres, 9, y James Harper, 7.
Monterosso (22): Alessandro Bazzoni, 1; Guillermo Terrera, 7; Ignacio Toccalino, 8, y Jerónimo del Carril, 6.
