All
Four Quarterfinals To Be Played Sunday In Stanford Financial Group
- 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship At International Polo Club Palm
Beach
WELLINGTON,
Florida Pre-tournament favorites Bendabout and Catamount
resume their rivalry with a dramatic twist Sunday
at 3 p.m. in the last of the quarterfinal matches of the historic
Stanford Financial Group 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship
at the International Polo Club Palm Beach.
Ten-goaler
Adolfo Cambiaso of Argentina, generally regarded as the best player
in the world, is replacing injured 10-goaler Mike Azzaro of Catamount.
Azzaro, one of only two American 10-goalers, is suffering from a
herniated disk and said doctors suggested he rest at least a week
before playing. This will be Cambiasos first game at International
Polo Club Palm Beach.
The
other three quarterfinals are Sunday beginning with a doubleheader
at 10 a.m. when Las Monjitas plays 1997 champion Isla Carroll and
1999 runner-up Pony Express plays 2003 finalist Lechuza. White Birch,
which reached the finals three times, plays Old Pueblo at noon.
The
semifinals are Wednesday at noon and 3 p.m. and the championship
match is Sunday, April 18 at 3 p.m.
Scott
Devons Catamount has beaten Gillian Johnstons Bendabout
in two finals, the 22-goal Joe Barry Memorial in late January and
the 26-goal C.V. Whitney Cup on March 21. However, Bendabout won
their latest encounter, 7-5, during the first round of the U.S.
Open.
Catamount
has struggled with injuries throughout the season. Besides Azzaro,
9-goaler Carlos Gracida is nursing a sore knee that sometimes requires
injections. Patron Scott Devon missed about a month with a broken
finger but has come back strong. Four-goaler Pelon Escapite, a defensive
standout, rounds out the team.
Gracida
leads the team with 13 goals and Azzaro has scored 11 goals. Devon
has two goals and Escapite has added four goals but Catamount scored
the least amount of goals 30 of all 13 teams in the
first round.
Bendabout,
which won the 2002 U.S. Open while playing under the Coca-Cola banner,
is led by American 10-goaler Adam Snow and 10-goaler Miguel Novillo
Astrada of Argentina. Johnston, Snow and Astrada were members of
the 2002 championship team. Five-goaler Alejandro Novillo Astrada
rounds out the 2004 team.
Snow,
one of only two American 10-goalers, leads the team with 17 goals.
Miguel Novillo Astrada is second with 14 goals. Johnston, a 1-goaler,
leads all patrons with five goals while Alejandro Novillo Astrada
has scored four goals.
Division
I winner Las Monjitas welcomed the return of 9-goaler Eduardo Novillo
Astrada to the lineup on Thursday after an absence of almost five
weeks due to cracked ribs and a bruised lung. He scored one goal
in the final first-round match and believes he will be even more
prepared for the quarterfinals.
I
got a little tired at the end, but it was fun playing, said
Astrada.
His
brother, 10-goaler Javier, picked up the slacked, leading the tournament
with 27 goals. The team scored 35 goals. They are joined by younger
brother, 7-goaler Nacho, and patron Camilo Bautista.
All
the quarterfinals, the semifinals are going to be tough, said
Eduardo Novillo Astrada. The team with the better horses,
the better organization, thats what counts more.
Las
Monjitas plays sentimental favorite Isla Carroll, which boasts 15-time
champion Memo Gracida on its roster as well as International Polo
Club owner John Goodman. They are joined by 8-goalers Sugar Erskine
and Pancho Bensadon, who is the teams leading scorer with
20 goals.
Gracida
said his team must play tighter defensively in order to advance
to the semifinals.
We
float and were not with the man but playing zones, said
Gracida. We must play the man tighter. That allows me to get
into the game and puts less pressure on me to defend.
Lechuza,
which reached the finals in 2003 and semifinals in 2002, is trying
to regain its form following the return of 10-goaler Pite Merlos,
who missed two weeks with a groin injury. Merlos played four chukkers
in Thursdays final first-round match and knows he isnt
100 percent. They are led by 10-goaler Sebastian Merlos, who scored
23 goals in the first round.
Old
Pueblo, which was the last team to qualify for the quarterfinals,
plays perennial powerhouse White Birch, which reached the U.S. Open
final three times. Old Pueblos leading scorer is 17-year-old
Facundo Pieres, whose father, Gonzalo, guided White Birch to more
than 20 high-goal titles in the 1980s and early 1990s. Pieres scored
20 goals in the first round.
The
game matches the two highest scoring teams in the tournament. Old
Pueblo is No. 1 with 45 goals while White Birch is second with 43
goals. Adding more intrigue is the fact that White Birch is now
led by Pieres brother-in-law, 10-goaler Mariano Aguerre, who
has scored 21 goals in the first round.
Its
going to be fun and sad because one of the two is going to be out,
said Pieres, referring to himself and Aguerre.
Thirteen
teams, featuring nine 10-goalers, entered the Stanford Financial
Group U.S. Open Polo Championship, the most prestigious polo
tournament in North America, highlighting the historic inaugural
polo season at the International Polo Club Palm Beach. The 26-goal
tournament culminates with the championship match on Sunday, April
18 at 3 p.m. Fifteen teams, in 2002, is the record for teams in
a U.S. Open.
The
Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open is being played on the
International Polo Club Palm Beachs five world-class Bermuda-grass
playing fields.
The
Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, a privately-held global
network of affiliated companies, has signed on as the title sponsor
of the 100th U.S. Open Polo Championship in 2004. Stanfords
family of companies provides international private banking, trust
and brokerage services and real estate development. Currently, the
Stanford organization manages in excess of $17 billion in deposits
and assets, serving clients on six continents. The success of the
group is the result of entrepreneurial spirit and drive spearheaded
by third generation Chairman and CEO R. Allen Stanford.
Like
the high-goal teams on the field, the International Polo Club Palm
Beach has amassed a lineup of prestigious sponsors for the U.S.
Open. The Stanford Financial Group U.S. Open tournament will
feature a different presenting sponsor every Sunday, including Bombardier
Aerospace, Cunard Ltd. and HUMMER, Mitchell-Peck Jewelers, Piaget
and Roder.
As
always, there will be a delicious Sunday brunch, catered by The
Breakers, open to the public preceding the featured stadium match,
along with the now traditional and very popular champagne divot
stomp and a post-match awards presentation.
Individual
tickets for the U.S. Open tournament Sunday games and Wednesdays
semifinals range from $15 for general admission to $40 for terrace
lawn seating and are available in advance. For ticket information
for the U.S. Open, please call the club at (561) 204-5687 or visit
online at www.internationalpoloclub.com. Tickets are also available
at the gate.
International
Polo Club Palm Beach is located at 3667 120th Avenue South, between
Pierson Road and Lake Worth Road, in Wellington.
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