Bombardier Pacific Coast Open and Triple Crown of Polo Finals
Duende defeated Windsor 13 – 11
Awards Voted on by the players:
MVP Pro Agustin Merlos Duende (10 goal handicap)
MVP Amateur Mike Hakan Duende (Patron)
Best Playing Pony Pro Paco de Narvaez “Galleta”
Best Playing Pony Amateur Hakan “ Piojo”
The Polo Report by Steve Crowder. Duende continued to control the PCO and Windsor continues to be second when the combo of Duende was not laying on the ground and rollin’ in divots they were usually scoring penalty shots. Duende was able to secure their 2nd in a row today. It was the same horrible game expected. Duende slows it to a crawl and draws fouls and it seems to work well. Big Mike Hakan proably runs more than anyone on the team and he did a very good job Sunday. They put constant pressure on the front end of Windsor, not that the ball was there very often. Carlos Galindo, Jr. played a steady working game as well and gets the big one early in life as he is only 18 or 19.
The 1st chukker may have been the best as the field was a minefield. It was as good as it was going to be in the 1st. There was a fair amount of running and I think only 5 fouls. The Chukker finished 2 to 2 both Duende goals on penalties and Windsor missed an open goal the second it got ugly. With quick 8 fouls, 2 no fouls also, but throw ins and it slowed to a crawl. Windsor again missed a 5 foot penalty and lost the chukker by 1. The 3rd started out with Duende up by 1 at 5 to 4. The 3rd was a win for Windsor as they won this one by 1 to tie it at halftime at 6. All it was a subdued halftime as Windsor lost a very good mare Susie of Jeff Hall’s and the Governor’s leg was doing a war dance on him so he released his spot to young gun Juan Jo Gonzalez, an 18 year old who was a big factor in helping Windsor get here to the finals, but it was not enough. Windsor gave up 2 more goals then they scored and trailed by 2 entering the fifth 7 to 9. Duende scored from the field a couple in the fifth instead of the line and Windsor got within 1, but it was all she wrote as Duende won the last and the game and the Championship for 2 years in a row. They are also the first time winners of the brinks delivered trophy from the Triple Crown of Polo, so it was a wild affair. There were two trophy presentations on each side of the field a bit odd, but good show for the winners as they doubled their pleasure.
In the earlier game it was Grant’s Farm stopping Jimmy Choo in a very good clean game with lots of running. Toto bad ESPN was not filming it. The field was better and it was great to have ESPN ‘s David B. and Saraha Eakin Duke here and a great crew involved. Too bad the game and field was so bad for the final. Maybe on TV they can dress it up and speed it up we shall see. See ya.
Photos by David Lominska. Click here to visit David’s online gallery.