Italia Polo Challenge

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Italia Polo Challenge Cortina 2023

16. March 2023

Cortina and the polo snow – always full throttle ahead! The 2023 edition of the Italia Polo Challenge starts with remarkable results this time as well.

For the fourth year in a row, the Italia Polo Challenge has kicked off in the Dolomite pearl of Cortina. After the debut in 2020 with demonstration matches, the event then quickly took on the character of a real tournament, played every year – despite all the Covid restrictions. And the 2023 edition closed with numbers that were as impressive as they were great: six teams on the field, players from seven nations and three continents for four intense days of play, with exciting matches in the spotlight and very large crowds.

The polo event in Cortina, which is one of the most eagerly awaited sporting events of the season, hit the mark again this time, also thanks to a post-match programme that fully lived up to the expectations of the purely social part of the event. Once again it was the U.S. Polo Assn. team, title sponsor of the tournament, that entered the winners’ list, this time represented by an all-French polo team. In the final, Sebastien Aguettant, Patrick Paillol and Matthieu Delfosse defeated Natuzzi Polo Team, last year’s winners, represented by Clement Delfosse, Matthieu’s brother, and German players David Deistler and Patrick Maleitzke, by a comfortable margin (9 ½ /5).

Paillol was named the best player of the tournament: “This was my first participation in Cortina after having played many games on snow. I have to say that they really did a wonderful job here, with a perfect field at all times and a full programme for us every day, even before the games. A very enjoyable experience, we were even able to get out on the ski slopes. It was fun to challenge and beat my great friend Clement Delfosse in the final, but with his brother Matthieu on my team.” An award also went to China’s Eclair Chen, who had worked and waited two years for her first appearance in the snow of Ampezzo and then had to retire because of a knee injury, of all things (she was replaced by compatriot Wang Hoaw Chan from Team Blue Ocean Finance). The organisers therefore wanted to cheer her up with a special prize.

Cortina is preparing for the 2026 Winter Olympics and polo dreams of being included in the demonstration sports calendar. “The relationship with Cortina is beautiful and fruitful,” stressed FISE Secretary General Simone Perillo. “Polo is a spectacular and fascinating sport that balances the values of the horse-rider combination with those of a team sport. Two Olympic champions such as former ski racer Kristian Ghedina and or curler Stefania Constantini visited us in the polo village and found wonderful words of appreciation for the horses and our sport during the tournament. This is also an incentive for us to become even better”. Alessandro Giachetti, Director of Zone Europe of the International Polo Federation and Head of the FISE Polo Department, sees it the same way and emphasises: “The success of this year’s tournament in Cortina is the culmination of all the efforts and hard work of the past three years – and this is just the beginning for the development of this event, which has the potential to grow even more in the future.”

Text by Caterina Vagnozzi
Photography by IPC/Diego Bandion

Cortina and the polo snow – always full throttle ahead! The 2023 edition of the Italia Polo Challenge starts with remarkable results this time as well. For the fourth year…

Europe, Polo News

The lasting bond between Cortina and `Polo on Snow`

11. January 2022

Polo on snow made its debut in Cortina d‘Ampezzo in 1989, following the example set by a similar event organised in St. Moritz in 1985. It was organised by three Roman friends with a passion for polo – Italo Focacci, Fabrizio Bogiankino and Corrrado Pantanella – joined by Renato Manaigo, the well-known and respected owner of Cortina’s Hotel de la Poste, always in search of innovation and elegance.

The first location chosen was the frozen lake of Landro, between Cortina and Dobbiaco, where four teams challenged each other in a tournament played in front of spectators that consisted mainly of the players’ families and friends as well as polo fans. Teams from Italy, England, Holland and Belgium played in what was then called the ‘Presidential Cup’.

Two years later a decision was made to create a polo field on Lake Misurina, in a magnificent open and sunny position at the feet of mountains rising to an altitude of three thousand metres. It was certainly the best playing field one could imagine!

The year 2002 marked the beginning of a totally new series called the ‘Cortina Winter Polo Gold Cup’ which was a great success.

In 2013 and 2014, due to the lack of ice formed over Lake Misurina, polo on snow matches were played at the Antonella De Rigo Sports Centre in Fiames, bordering on the Alemagna Road.

In 2020 Cortina d’Ampezzo hosted the debut of the Italia Polo Challenge with the first ever polo on snow match played under floodlights, using the Arena Polo format with teams consisting of three players and played in a smaller field. Another test event was organised in 2021 before at last inaugurating the 2022 four teams tournament.

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Italia: The Italia Polo Challenge is a series currently involving three immensely enchanting locations, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Rome’s Piazza di Siena and Porto Cervo. This challenge was an idea presented by the Argentinean player Patricio Rattagan, who has become the event manager in cooperation with the Italian Equestrian Sport’s Federations Polo Department. Italia Polo Challenge was officially inaugurated in May 2019 in Roma, with a quadrangular tournament greeted with great success by spectators at the Villa Borghese Galoppatoio during the Piazza di Siena international horse show. In 2020 the same success greeted the Italia Polo Challenge’s debut on snow in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Unfortunately this was the only event held that year due to the spreading of Covid. In 2021 instead the Italia Polo Challenge at last kicked into gear with three tournaments organised in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Rome and Porto Cervo. Cortina 2022 was therefore the sixth event in this adventurous Italia Polo Challenge.

Polo on snow made its debut in Cortina d‘Ampezzo in 1989, following the example set by a similar event organised in St. Moritz in 1985. It was organised by three Roman…

Europe, Polo News

U.S. POLO ASSN. wins Italia Polo Challenge Cortina 2022

11. January 2022

The U.S. Polo Assn. Team dominated the final of the Italia Polo Challenge Cortina 2022, played on Saturday, January 8th, against the Goldspan Polo Team (14-11.5) in a floodlit arena with footing unanimously judged as perfect.

Polo on snow has a long tradition in Cortina d’Ampezzo (first played there in 1989) and the tournament, which ended after three exciting days with four teams playing, attracted a large number of enthusiastic spectators who braved the harsh weather (-7/- 8 degrees) and enjoyed high-level sport.

The winning team, which fielded France’s Clement Delfosse (hp 5), Germany’s Patrick Maleitzke (hp 5) and Felix Dassler (hp 0), won the day 14 to 11.5 against Goldspan, which instead fielded the Argentinean players Valentin Novillo Astrada (hp 6) and Pablo Guinazù (hp 3) as well as Luxemburg’s Bert Poeckes (hp 0).

The match was really only balanced during the first chukker, which Goldspan won 3.5 to 2 thanks to a hat-trick scored by Guinazù. After the second chukker it was practically all over. Delfosse and Maleitzke put on a real show, and goal after goal created an unbeatable gap with their opponents¸ 9 to 4.5 at the end of the second chukker and then 12 to 5.5 after the third.

U.S. Polo Assn. Vs Goldspan – ©IPC/Diego Bandion

The final chukker started with the most spectacular goal of the entire tournament; Maleitzke rode at least two-thirds of the arena keeping control of the ball to then hit it through the goal posts while an enthusiastic crowd cheered him on. In the final minutes of play the Goldspan team tried to reduce the distance but could do no better than finish on 14 to 11.5.

The match for third place was won by Team Battistoni, fielding Argentina’s Patricio Rattagan (hp 4), Germany’s Alexander Hauptmann (hp 2) and Italy’s Stefano Giansanti (hp 1), beating 8-6 the Hotel de la Poste, with players Felix Beguerie (hp 5), Therence Cusmano (hp 1) and Slovakia’s Martin Magal (hp 0). Battistoni’s top scorer was Rattagan with five goals out of the team’s eight.

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© IPC/Diego Bandion

The U.S. Polo Assn. Team dominated the final of the Italia Polo Challenge Cortina 2022, played on Saturday, January 8th, against the Goldspan Polo Team (14-11.5) in a floodlit…

Europe, Polo News

U.S. Polo Assn. Announced as Official Apparel & Team Sponsor for the Italia Polo Challenge – Porto Cervo Arzachena 2021

22. July 2021

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./PORTO CERVO, ITA (July 20, 2021) – U.S. Polo Assn., in collaboration with its licensing partners in Italy, Incom SPA, Bonis SPA, Eastlab and WIP, has announced it will serve as the Official Apparel and Team Sponsor for the Italia Polo Challenge – Porto Cervo Arzachena 2021. The event will run from July 21 – 24 along the spectacular Costa Smeralda in the Italian region of Sardinia. U.S. Polo Assn. will provide team and staff apparel for this stunning event. There will also be a consumer experience merchandise tent on site for attendees to take home a piece of the sport.

The Italia Polo Challenge is a circuit of arena polo tournaments comprised of international teams participating in the most exclusive locations in Italy including Cortina d’Ampezzo, Rome – Piazza di Siena and this year debuting Porto Cervo – Arzachena. The circuit was created in 2018 by two passionate polo players eager to bring the tradition and heritage of the sport of polo to a wider audience.

“Alongside the Italian Federation and in partnership with our licensing partners in Italy, it’s an honor to be the Official Apparel and Team Sponsor for such an exciting polo tournament with one of the world’s most picturesque backdrops,” said J. Michael Prince, President and CEO of USPA Global Licensing, which manages the multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand. “U.S. Polo Assn. has a strong market presence in Italy, so we look forward to supporting the event and highlighting the sport of polo to consumers and sports fans in this very special place.

While the Italia Polo Challenge is new to the global polo circuit, its location is one of the most breath-taking in all of Italy and its stature is not going unnoticed by the world’s top players and sports fans around the world. The event will feature four teams, 12 players, nearly 75 horses and will be watched thousands of attendees.

“We are excited to be collaborating with U.S. Polo Assn., the official brand of the sport of polo in the U.S. for this amazing event and appreciate the generosity of the brand in outfitting the teams and staff,” said Alessandro Giachetti, Head of Polo, Italian Equestrian Sports Federation. “The authentic connection between the brand and our players enhances this outstanding sponsorship and means something to loyal fans of polo and of U.S. Polo Assn.”

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