KIG Polo enjoyed a successful debut at Aspen Valley Polo Club this past weekend.
In front of a worldwide ChukkerTV audience and good local crowd, KIG Polo (Bash Kazi, Carlitos Gracida, Marc Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Matteo de Paolis) finished undefeated despite high winds and rain moving in at the end of the tournament.
KIG Polo defeated FlexJet (Grant Ganzi, Lucas Lalor, Juancito Bollini, Stewart Armstrong), 5-4, and La Karina (Melissa Ganzi, Brian Boyd, Mariano Gracida, Juan Bollini, Alejandro Gonzalez), 6-3, to win its first summer tournament in Colorado. In the opening game, FlexJet defeated La Karina, 6-3.
With a breathtaking mountain view, players return to the field after halftime.
Florida Atlantic University junior Juancito Bollini of FlexJet was named Most Valuable Player. Bollini scored three goals including two in the opening chukker and was outstanding on defense.
Marc Ganzi led KIG Polo with six goals and Nic Roldan added four goals including a 100-yarder. The longtime Audi teammates are preparing for the Aug. 23-Sept. 6 East Coast Open High Goal Polo Championship at Greenwich (Ct.) Polo Club.
Mariano Gracida led La Karina scoring with four goals. Armstrong led FlexJet with four goals.
Will and Aztec.
Before the game, a moment of silence was observed for polo player Will Tankard, 30, of Aiken, S.C. who was tragically killed on Thursday in a traffic accident in Ohio.
Tankard, founding member of Team USPA, played on the 2015 team that trained at Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, Fla. and finished runner-up in the FIP World Championships. He was one of the most well-respected players in the game.
During halftime, the Aspen Valley Polo Club Polo School kids put on an entertaining and competitive foot mallet demonstration.
This week, in addition to Kids Polo on Tuesday, Arena Polo is on Wednesday. The ChukkerTV Challenge will be held at the Aspen Valley Polo Club Arena, one of the nation’s top venues for arena polo. The Sunday feature game will be the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup at 3 p.m.
Seven summer tournaments have been played at Aspen Valley Polo Club. Melody Polo Team won the first two tournaments–Independence Cup and ChukkerTV Challenge; Aspen Valley Polo Team won the Aspen Valley Cup I; Travieso won the Craig Sakin Memorial, La Karina won the Basalt Handicap Cup and Aspen Valley Cup II and KIG captured the Emma Challenge.
The remainder of the tournament schedule is this week’s Louis Vuitton Cup; Aug. 14-16 Mount Sopris Cup; and Aug. 12-23 Rocky Mountain Cup.
ChukkerTV, the leaders in polo broadcasting, is live streaming the club’s tournaments with announcer Dale Schwetz providing play-by-play.
In addition to Aspen Valley Polo Club action, ChukkerTV’s Summer Tour, a 13,000-mile cross country trip featuring several U.S. Polo Association tournaments at various U.S. clubs, is also under way.
ChukkerTV, an independent media company, was the first to introduce state-of-the-art live streaming technology in January, 2014 at Grand Champions Polo Club, where it was well-received for its cutting-edge technology and ability to promote the sport to a larger audience and continues to build and improve its technology.