By Sinje Sybert
It became evident in the preliminary rounds of the tournament, that this year’s König Pilsener team were strong contenders. Of the four matches that they played, team captain Sebastian Schneberger (+1), Philip de Groot (+1), Valentin Novillo Astrada (+5) and Jason Warren (+1) did not lose a single game and thereby showed their competitors just how keen they were to win the seventeenth edition of the German Polo Masters Sylt.
The final Sunday saw the team successfully put their victory plan into action. A large crowd of spectators gathered at the edge of the polo pitch in Keitum to witness first hand the dual between the two best teams of the tournament, LaFina and König Pilsener. However the two preceding games, for fifth and third place, also enabled the spectators to watch a very high level of polo.
The third chukka of the match between team 4 Kampen Sylt and team Lanson, who were competing to secure third place in the overall rankings, was particularly exciting. Up until this point, Piero Dillier (0), Paul Netzsch (+1), Lucas Labat (+6) and Dorian Bulteau (+1) had been behind, but they started a comeback, which culminated in a 6-6 draw and then finally in the fourth chukka, enabled them to win the match with an 8-7 lead.
The final match between LaFina and König Pilsener also saw an increase in energy and speed in the third chukka. Robert Kofler (+1), Koko Kofler (0), Santiago Marambio (+6) and Victor Beckers (+1) were at one point 4-1 down, but fought their way fiercely to slowly close the gap between them and their opposition. They even managed to start the fourth chukka with a 5-4 lead, a chukka which in the last minutes turned into an exchange of goals: Valentin Novillo Astrada levelled the score 5-5. Victor Beckers countered this and made the score 6-5. Once again, Astrada changed the score to 6-6, and just as the final whistle went did the König Pilsener boys manage to score the deciding goal, thereby ensuring the closely fought victory was theirs.
Unlike last year, the weather stayed dry for the prize giving, before it began to pour with rain on the North Sea Island. This resulted in a rather wet but still very happy evening, not only for the well deserved-winners, but also for everyone.
POLO+10 congratulates Sebastian Schneberger, Philip de Groot, Valentin Novillo Astrada and Jason Warren on their victory!
Ranking:
1st König Pilsener (+8)
Sebastian Schneberger, TC (+1)
Philip de Groot (+1)
Valentin Novillo Astrada (+5)
Jason Warren (+1)
2nd Lafina (+8)
Robert Kofler, TC (+1)
Koko Kofler (0)
Santiago Marambio (+6)
Viktor Beckers (+1)
3rd 4 Kampen (+8)
Piero Dillier, TC (0)
Paul Netzsch (+1)
Lucas Labat (+6)
Dorian Bulteau (+1)
4th Lanson (+8)
Matthias Grau, TC (0)
Heinrich Dumrath (+3)
Thomas Winter (+4)
Christian Badenhop (+1)
5th König Immobilien Sylt (+8)
Naomi Schröder, TC (0)
Tahnee Schröder (0)
Gastón Maíquez (+7)
Jack David Kiels (+1)
6th Sal. Oppenheim (+8)
Niclas Sandweg (+1)
Sven Schneider (+3)
Tatu Gomez Romero (+4)
Jo Schneider, TC (0)
Gallery:
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