Well before the official prefectural order was issued, the club had already adapted the tournament schedule to safeguard both horse welfare and player safety. Matches had been rescheduled to unusual hours, either early in the morning or late in the evening, to avoid the hottest part of the day before play was eventually suspended on June 21.
OniriQ Ladies Polo Nations Cup 2026: Île-de-France succeeds Hauts-de-France
The ladies’ tournament resumed on Sunday morning. After several shortened matches designed to recover the lost schedule, the competition returned to its normal format and concluded with a final between defending champions Hauts-de-France Yves Delorme and Île-de-France.
After a closely contested final, Île-de-France claimed the title with a 3-2 victory.
“Despite the low scoreline and a very competitive Hauts-de-France side, we managed to stay focused until the very end,” said team back Pearl Venot. “Above all, this was a team victory. Of course, playing alongside my sister is always special, but Esther (Dada) scored the opening goal and I knew Megan (Kawohl) would always be there whenever I brought the ball forward.”
Earlier in the day, Bretagne secured third place by defeating Normandie, lifting the Yves Delorme Cup.
Barnes Polo Nations Cup: Mouth-watering semi-finals ahead
The mixed tournament, as it should be remembered, with defending champions France Occitanie captained by Isabelle Larenaudie, the only woman competing for the overall title, remained wide open before Monday’s decisive matches. Only Occitanie, unbeaten with four consecutive victories before the interruption, had already secured a place in the semi-finals.
In Zone A, a penalty shoot-out was required to separate France-PACA, Belgium and Switzerland. In this unforgiving test of nerves, France-PACA kept its composure to join Occitanie in the last four.
In Zone B, Normandie comfortably defeated Champagne (10-4), while Italy overcame Bourgogne (11-6). A difficult day for France’s famous wine regions!
After a pause imposed by exceptional weather conditions, the Barnes Polo Nations Cup is now back in full swing. Attention now turns to two highly anticipated semi-finals before Friday’s final on Chantilly’s iconic Terrain d’Honneur, the climax of an edition that has already proved memorable.
OniriQ Ladies Polo Nations Cup 2026 – Final Statistics
Score progression: 0-1 / 2-1 / 3-1 / 3-2
Île-de-France: Esther Dada (1) – 1 goal, Megan Kawohl (1) – 1 goal, Lucie Venot (4) – 1 goal, Pearl Venot (6)
Hauts-de-France Yves Delorme: Bianca Verneuil (2), Roxane Valat (2), Pupi Sirvent (2) – 1 goal, Luisa Del Carril (5) – 1 goal
Amateur MVP by Drimmer (Final): Megan Kawohl (Île-de-France)
Amateur MVP by Drimmer (Third-place match): Bertille Machut (Bretagne)
Professional MVP by Softshield: Lucie Venot (Île-de-France)
Best Playing Pony: Malakita, played by Luisa Del Carril and owned by Arnaud Maquinghen (Hauts-de-France)
Umpires: Rafa Sylva and Julian Aguilar.
SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 1:
Barnes Polo Nations Cup Semifinals
11:00 a.m.: France-Occitanie vs. France-Normandy
1:00 p.m.: Italy vs. France-PACA
Picture: © Justine Jacquemot
Text: Pascal Renauldon / R&B Presse
