Men’s teams take to the arena for the first day of high goals and high hopes
The ninth annual La Martina Miami Beach Polo World Cup, the world’s largest and most prestigious Beach Polo competition, began the first day of the men’s tournament on Friday, as six teams took to the sands of South Beach for a day of gallant showmanship in front of a capacity crowd.
A talented La Martina team (Guillermo Steta, Santi Torres and Carlos Gracida), ran away from Merchant Hub (Tommy Kato, Jamie Morrison and Luis Escobar) in the opening game, registering a 10-5 win.
Guillermo Steta, the President of the Mexican Polo Federation, scored the first two goals of the match with Polo Hall of Famer Carlos Gracida adding the third goal of the chukker. Luis Escobar got Merchant Hub on the scoreboard, but they trailed 3-1 going into the second chukker.
Jamie Morrison scored on a goal from the field and teammate Escobar converted a penalty shot for Merchant Hub in the second, but La Martina was up to the challenge adding two goals from nineteen-year-old Santi Torres and another goal from Carlos Gracida. At the end of the first half La Martina was on top of a 6-3 score.
The two teams exchanged goals in the third period with Jamie Morrison and Luis Escobar scoring single goals for Merchant Hub. Santi Torres added another goal from the field while Carlos Gracida scored on a penalty shot. The La Martina lead held at three goals, 8-5 at the end of the third.
Santi Torres scored two unanswered goals in the fourth for the 10-5 win.
Torres was a high scorer for La Martina with five goals. Gracida added three goals and Steta scored twice. Escobar scored three times for Merchant Hub. Orison was credited with two goals in the loss.
THE RALEIGH 14, SLH 13
A shoot-down, drag-out battle between the team from The Raleigh and the team from Small Luxury Hotels of the World™ resulted in a 14-13 win for The Raleigh with Juan Monteverde and John Gobin combining efforts for nine goals.
Six goals were scored in a 3-3 first chukker with SLH getting a single goal from Claudio Ochoa and a two-pointer from Kris Kampsen (two points is scored when the ball is hit from midfield or beyond and travels between the goal posts). The Raleigh came up with single goals from Bash Kazi, John Gobin and Juan Monteverde.
The Raleigh gained traction in the second period with Bash Kazi adding a pair of goals and John Gobin scoring on a two-point shot. David Tafuri added a goal to The Raleigh total as well. MZ Kazi scored all three goals for SLH in the second as The Raleigh move out in front, 8-6.
The two teams traded goals in the third with Kris Kampsen scoring twice (one on a penalty shot) and MZ Kazi scoring his fourth of the day. The Raleigh got goals from John Gobin, Juan Monteverde and David Tafuri, maintaining their two goal lead, 11-9.
SLH made a concerted effort to unseat The Raleigh in the final chukker. Carlitos Gracida scored once and Kris Kampsen added two goals from the field and a two-pointer. Juan Monteverde scored all three of The Raleigh’s fourth chukker goals for the narrow 14-13 victory.
Monteverde led The Raleigh attack with five goals. Gobin added four goals; Bash Kazi scored three times; and Tafuri was credited with two goals for the win. SLH 9-goaler, Kris Kampsen, scored seven times. MZ Kazi registered four goals and single goals were racked up by Ochoa and Gracida in the loss.
GREY GOOSE 19, JAMES ROYAL PALM HOTEL/JET BLUE 14
The Grey Goose team (Tom Ravenel, Lance Vetter, Vincent Mesker and Guille Usandizaga) rebounded from a 7-7 half-time score to beat The James Royal Palm Hotel/Jet Blue team 19-14 in the final match of the day.
The James Royal Palm Hotel/jet Blue team (Neku Atawodi, Oscar Mancini and Sebastian Dawnay) took an early lead on three first chukker goals from Oscar Mancini and a single goal from Sebastian Dawnay. Grey Goose responded with a pair of goals from Vincent Mesker (one on a penalty conversion) and a single goal from Tom Ravenel. At the end of the first chukker The James Royal Palm Hotel/jet Blue team led, 4-3.
Grey Goose bounced back in the second period with three goals from Guille Usandizaga (one on a penalty shot) and another goal from Tom Ravenel. Three penalty conversions from Oscar Mancini had it deadlocked at 7-7 at the end of the first half of play.
Guille Usandizaga put the game away himself in the third on the strength of six goals (four on penalty shots). Vincent Mesker added two goals as Grey Goose moved in front by four goals, 15-11. Oscar Mancini and Sebastian Dawnay added two goals apiece (each had one goal from the field and one penalty conversion),
Final chukker action saw seven more goals go up on the scoreboard as The James Royal Palm Hotel/jet Blue team fought valiantly trying to get back into the game. Three goals from Vincent Mesker and a single goal from Guille Usandizaga gave Grey Goose an insurmountable 19 goals on the day while The James Royal Palm Hotel/jet Blue team manages a pair of goals from Oscar Mancini and a single goal from Sebastian Dawnay in the 19-14 loss.
Usandizaga led all scoring with 11 goals. Mesker scored six times and Ravenel added two goals in the win. Oscar Mancini scored 10 times for The James Royal Palm Hotel/jet Blue team. Dawnay added four goals in a losing effort.