Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly

Polo News

EIGHT TEAMS FOR THE FIRST POLO NATIONS CUP AT THE POLO CLUB DU DOMAINE DE CHANTILLY !

13. June 2023

This Thursday (June 8th), the first Nations Cup in the history of polo kicks off. Four federations – the US Polo Association, the Korea Polo Federation (South Korea), the Deutscher Polo Verband e.V. (Germany) and the Fédération Française de Polo – have given their support to this French initiative, and have delegated a total of eight teams for this first edition.

Germany has nominated two teams to play under the colors of Bavaria and the Hanseatic city of Hamburg, the USA will be represented by Illinois and California, and France by Normandy, the PACA region and Hauts de France.

The more „exotic“ entry of KPF (Korea) is part of a drive to develop polo in that country through a program that notably encourages the introduction and practice of the sport in secondary schools and universities, supervised by British and New Zealand coaches, and that has been set up on the model long developed in the United States. The team selected for Chantilly, sponsored by Korean companies, will be the ambassador of Korean polo and has been training intensively for the past few months, taking part in international tournaments in Spain (Sotogrande), Saint-Tropez, Argentina, the Philippines, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. More than victory, the aim in Chantilly, explains Steve Joh, President of the Korea Polo Federation, is to put Korea on the international polo map and create new relations: „We‘re looking forward to making new friends on and off the field!”

France‘s chances are threefold, with two teams based in Chantilly, led by the two best players the country has to offer: 6-goalers Pierre Henri N‘Goumou (Normandy) and Brieuc Rigaux (Hauts de France). The PACA region‘s squad includes three young players trained at the Chantilly Polo Club including the newly crowned Arena Polo World Champions Louis Jarrige and Dorian Bulteau.

After the preliminary phase, in which all teams will play each other until Tuesday June 13th, the four best teams will face each other in the semi-finals on Friday June 16th, and the finals will be held on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. for the third-place-play-off and at 3:00 p.m. for the first Polo Nations Cup grand finale.

In Chantilly, admission to all games – including those in the final phase – is free for all. Polo at Chantilly is more than just a sport: it‘s an experience that includes the discovery of an Argentinian atmosphere, weekday matches in a more intimate atmosphere before dusk (with food-truck), and matches with commentary by a French-speaking Argentinian specialist with a charming Latin accent. Plus, on the day of the finals (June 18th): polo initiations on wooden horses and a village welcoming visitors with saddlery stands, Argentinean products and food-trucks.

Program of 2023 season

DON‘T MISS ANY OF THE POLO NATIONS CUP MATCHES

• All games – including those in the finals – are free to watch.

• All games will also be broadcast live via the Pololine.tv and Global Polo platforms.

• Chukker App, the live scoring app, will also be following this tournament!

The page dedicated live broadcasts

INFORMATION IMPORTANTE

Approved helmets will be compulsory at Chantilly from September!

From September, all participants in a tournament will have to wear an approved helmet. They will also have to carry the „QC“ mark.

Find the list of approved helmets here

Save the date! POLO NATIONS CUP EVENTS

Vendredi de Chantilly x Polo Nations Cup

The next „Vendredi de Chantilly“, which will take place on Friday 9 June, will feature the first edition of the Polo Nations Cup!

We look forward to seeing you from 6pm at the Orangerie for a match (Hauts de France vs Hamburg) with Bar Moët & Chandon & picada alongside the field. The match will be followed by an Asado and a DJ party at the Orangerie.

Booking required

POLO NATIONS CUP – GALA DINNER
Thursday 13 June – 8:30 pm
On the Tennessee – Port de javel haut, 75015 Paris

PROGRAM :
8.30 pm boarding & cocktail – 9.00 pm cruise & gala dinner

DINNER & HORSE SHOW
Friday 16 June – 9 pm
Mario Luraschi‘s TIPI – 5 chemin du moulin – 60950 Ermenonville

PROGRAM :
9.00 pm Dinner and Horse Show

ASADO BY GALERIE SARTO
Saturday 17 June – 8:30 PM
La Grange – Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly

PROGRAM :
8.30 pm cocktail & asado – Exhibition Galerie Sarto

POLO NATIONS CUP FINAL
Sunday 18 Juin 2023
Orangerie du Polo Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly

PROGRAM : 11:30 am Opening of the village – 12:00 pm Cocktail – 12:00 pm Yves Delorme Cup – 13.30 pm Lunch – 3.00 pm Polo Nations Cup Parade – 3.30 pm Polo Nations Cup Final

All Polo Nations Cup events are open to the public.

Prices and bookings

The Winners of May...

COUPE PGH
HN Polo Team
Haider Naseem
Elena Venot
Hilario
Tito Ruiz Guinazu

TROPHEE DU BOIS LIEUTENANT
Animales Polo Team
Augustin Emsens
Sebastian Sorbac
Alejo Badelo
Pancho Maclaughlin

TROPHEE D‘APREMONT
Augustinus Bader
Jules Legoubin
Anne-Philippe de la Giraudière
Paloma Lauro
Victor Louarn

COUPE DE L‘ASCENSION
Pura Vida
Vanessa Diriart
Sébastien Philippot
Margaux Loy
Mélanie Pauli-Geysse

COUPE BERTA POLO
Augustinus Bader
Jules Legoubin
Anne-Philippe de la Giraudière
Paloma Lauro
Victor Louarn
Ambre Ploix
Ilan Bossard

TROPHEE CHAMPLATREUX
Tédélou – La Espranza
Isabelle Larenaudie
Jean Edouard Mazery
Simon Zavaleta
Jules Legoubin
Elouan Badarello

TROPHEE BOURBON
HN Polo Team
Haider Naseem
Elena Venot
Nicolas
Juan Ruiz Guinazu

contact@poloclubchantilly.com

www.poloclubchantilly.com

This Thursday (June 8th), the first Nations Cup in the history of polo kicks off. Four federations – the US Polo Association, the Korea Polo Federation (South Korea), the Deutscher…

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France World Champion in Arena Polo

11. May 2023

Last weekend, France won the first Arena Polo World Championship after a fantastic final against the United States in the home of world polo, Argentina. A historic achievement for French polo! And an important recognition for the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly where the six players who worked on this success come from.

A victory and a title all the more emblematic as they were won in Argentina, the land of polo par excellence, at the Carona Polo Club, in Capilla del Señor, in the province of Buenos Aires. Six teams were competing in the finals: France and Austria qualified for the European zone, the United States for North America, Morocco for the rest of the world and, last but not least, Argentina and Uruguay, the two strongest nations in South America. France simply beat all these teams!

In the group stage, Les Bleus (Louis Jarrige, Dorian Bulteau and Edwin Robineau) got the better of Morocco, Austria and Uruguay to qualify for the semi-finals against Austria again. With a reshuffled team with the entry of the more experienced Gaëtan Gosset and Adrien Le Gallo, the French team was jeered and dominated 7-5 at the end of the third chukker before delivering an exceptional final chukker by inflicting a 6-0 to the Austrians for a final score of 11-7 that sent them to the final against the United States.

The American team had shown its ambitions before this world championship and was counting on leaving with the title as their n°1 player, Jared Sheldon, handicap 5, had clearly announced in the columns of ClickPolo magazine. Indeed, victory was well underway for them in this final before the French started fighting back and equalized at the very end of regulation time, 8 – 8… to finally win in overtime on a penalty that Gaëtan Gosset did not hesitate to transform to win this first major title for French polo!

It was an unforgettable moment for these players, as Adrien Le Gallo confided: „It was already an emotional moment to hear your national anthem before a world final, it gives a real boost before such a game. The semi-final was particularly hard for us because we had to fight from one end to the other. We completely changed our tactics for the last period, a winning choice that allowed us to lead them 6-0 within a few minutes although we were down by 2 goals at the beginning of the last chukker. We didn‘t know the horses we were riding which was an extra pressure in the semi-final. As a result, we were able to make a more intelligent list of horses for the final.”

“A final against the Americans who are particularly efficient in the arena, but we didn‘t give up until the equalizer that allowed us to get this victory in the extra chukker“. Adrien Le Gallo, like his five teammates, comes from the training branch of the Chantilly Polo Club, which is also the federal center for the preparation of the French teams, and he paid tribute to Philippe Perrier, director of the Polo Club and DTN (national technical director) of the French Polo Federation: „He has been so dedicated to the cause of French polo for many years and I think it is a wonderful reward for him that France has finally won a title in an official championship, even if it is only on sand. When you stand on the podium, it‘s a lot of emotions and you think about all that. It‘s a title won with friends and I‘m happy to have been able to finish the work started by Louis Jarrige and Dorian Bulteau, by qualifying for the finals in this way.”

These tactical changes mentioned by Le Gallo, are the choices that the national coach, Matthieu Delfosse, took from a distance by following the games live and sending chukker by chukker his instructions to his assistant, Celestin Hue who was on the field side in Argentina. An intense coaching which bore its fruits to the greatest happiness of the technician: „It is a huge emotion and joy because the six boys were all fabulous. They showed enormous courage during this final where they were led, badly handled with complicated horses. At the beginning of the game, they had the weight of the challenge of such a final on their shoulders. All day long, I kept telling them that they could win, that they would win. They were not the favorites, far from it, but they always believed in it and they went to get this victory at the end of an incredible suspense, in overtime. It‘s fabulous, I‘m very, very happy for the group and it‘s a great title for French polo, which I hope will be followed by others.”

Ces changements de tactique évoqués par Le Gallo, ce sont les choix que le sélectionneur et entraineur national, Matthieu Delfosse prenait à distance en suivant les matchs en direct et envoyant chukker par chukker ses consignes à son adjoint, Célestin Hue qui était au bord du terrain en Argentine. Un coaching intense qui a porté ses fruits pour le plus grand bonheur du technicien : « C’est une émotion et une joie immenses car les six garçons ont été tous fabuleux. Ils ont fait preuve d’un énorme courage lors de cette finale où ils ont été menés, malmenés avec des chevaux compliqués. Au début de la rencontre, ils avaient le poids de l’enjeu d’une telle finale sur les épaules. Toute la journée, je n’ai eu cesse de leur répéter qu’ils pouvaient gagner, qu’ils allaient gagner. Ils n’étaient pas les favoris, loin de là, mais ils y ont toujours cru et ils sont allés chercher cette victoire au bout d’un suspens incroyable, en overtime. C’est fabuleux, je suis très très content pour le groupe et c’est un beau titre pour le polo français, qui, j’espère, en appellera d’autres ».

WHAT IS ARENA POLO?

Arena is to polo what horse-ball is to pato or what beach-volley is to volleyball. It is played on a sand “court” (arena= sand in Spanish) of smaller size with three players per team instead of four for the „big“ polo and a leather ball the size of a small handball. It requires a lot of reactivity, reflexes and skill with the ball.

For amateur players, arena polo is a less expensive way to play polo. It requires fewer horses and the green fees are lower. For professional players like our six world champions, it is a way to continue training and competing during the winter break when the grass fields are closed. It is undoubtedly thanks to a very competitive French circuit, the Arena Polo Tour, which passes through Chantilly, Fontainebleau, Deauville, La Baule and La Motte-Beuvron, that our French players were able to show themselves particularly ready and competitive for this first World Championship. Thanks to this title, France, and probably Chantilly, will be able to host the second edition of this Mundial de Arena Polo in 2027.

FINAL

France: Gaëtan Gosset 4 (3 goals), Adrien Le Gallo 4 (1) and Edwin Robineau 3 (4). Total: 11.

Substitutes: Louis Jarrige 5, Dorian Bulteau 4 and Célestin Hue 2
Coaches: Matthieu Delfosse and Célestin Hue

United States: Jack McLean 2 (1), Jared Sheldon 5 (6) and Miguel Torres 5 (1). Total: 12.
Substitute: Jorge Vásquez 3.

Progression, France (1-0) 2-4, 5-6, 6-8, 8-8 and 9-8.

Last weekend, France won the first Arena Polo World Championship after a fantastic final against the United States in the home of world polo, Argentina. A historic achievement for French…

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THE POLO NATIONS CUP IS BORN !

4. May 2023

In the world of equestrian sports, the Nations Cup is the flagship team event of a season and a federation for the Olympic disciplines (show jumping, dressage and eventing). The Nations Cup is the only team class in of this mainly individual sport with of course the European, World and Olympic Team Championships. Each year, a national federation can organize only one Nations’ Cup per country.

This concept, which is highly publicized, did not yet exist in polo, even though it is a team sport par excellence! The prospect of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games has inspired the French Polo Federation (FFP) and the Chantilly Polo Club: the Polo Nations Cup will be held in June 2023 (from 8 to 18). It will oppose, at a 12-goal level, teams representing a nation and a region or a state selected by their federation with a maximum of two foreign players per team.

In 2024, this Polo Nations Cup will be part of the events held outside the official program organized in the wake of the Paris Olympic Games.

Polo has always been part of the Olympic family and the FIP is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Polo has been an official discipline of the Olympic Games five times. First played at the 1900 Summer Olympics, it was dropped from the program after the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. It was an Anglo-American team that won the first gold medal in 1900, then Great Britain twice (1908 and 1920) before Argentina took over (1924 and 1936).

The Polo Nations Cup will perhaps allow a gradual return to this beautiful era of polo at the Olympic Games, but above all to attract the public around the fields to continue to develop polo in France!

More infos :

Pascal Renauldon – +33 6 08 75 94 07 – p.renauldon@rbpresse.com

Justine Jacquemot – +33 6 77 74 52 94 – justine@chantillypoloclub.com

About the Federation of French Polo (FFP)

The Federation of French Polo is the governing body of polo in France. Created in 2006, its main objective is to make polo accessible to all, to promote the sport throughout France and to support by all means the common interests of its affiliated clubs.

www.francepolo.com

About the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly

In 1995, a group of friends created the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly in the village of Apremont. The grounds and grasslands were previously used for polo, having been chosen by Baron Robert de Rothschild in 1920. In 2004, the club took up the challenge of organising the Polo World Championship. All the games took place on the club’s nine fields. A relaxed, cavalier spirit continues to flourish in this countryside near Paris. The standard of polo continues to improve, with the world’s greatest players coming here regularly, attracted by the various tournaments. The development of polo in France and the Chantilly Polo Club is a shared history!

www.poloclubchantilly.com

Video © Justine Jacquemot:

In the world of equestrian sports, the Nations Cup is the flagship team event of a season and a federation for the Olympic disciplines (show jumping, dressage and eventing). The…

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U.S. POLO ASSN. Official Apparel Partner of the POLO RIDER CUP

7. February 2023

GAME POLO is proud to announce that U.S. Polo Assn. will be the Official Apparel Partner for the next two editions (2023 & 2024) of the POLO RIDER CUP.

As part of this partnership, U.S. Polo Assn. the well-known and globally recognized brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), will provide custom designed performance jerseys to each team of the POLO RIDER CUP for the 2023 and 2024 editions.

The POLO RIDER CUP is a unique 10-day international polo competition that runs from June 14 – 24, 2023. It’s based on a new tournament concept to be recognized as the Club World Cup in the FIP World Polo calendar.

“No other brand is closer to the sport of polo than U.S. Polo Assn., which is why we are honored to serve as the Official Apparel Partner of the 2023 and 2024 POLO RIDER CUP,” said J. Michael Prince, President, and CEO of USPA Global Licensing, the company that manages the U.S. Polo Assn. brand. “The POLO RIDER CUP is very special in that it brings together the best polo clubs from around the globe to compete under the sanction of the Federation of International Polo, all in one of the most beautiful locations in the world, St. Tropez, France.”

Olivier Godallier, President & Founder of GAME POLO, comments: “We would like to thank U.S. Polo Assn. for partnering with the POLO RIDER CUP as Official Apparel Partner. We share the same goals: spreading the culture of polo and its core values amongst younger generations and developing awareness of this sport among worldwide fans through a continual pursuit of excellence. We look forward to many years of successfully working together.’’

About U.S. Polo Assn.

U.S. Polo Assn. is the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), the non-profit governing body for the sport of polo in the United States and one of the oldest sports governing bodies, having been founded in 1890. With a multi-billion-dollar global footprint and worldwide distribution through some 1,100 U.S. Polo Assn. retail stores and thousands of department stores as well as sporting goods channels, independent retailers and e-commerce, U.S. Polo Assn. offers apparel for men, women, and children, as well as accessories and footwear in more than 190 countries worldwide. U.S. Polo Assn. was named in the top five sports licensors in 2022, according to License Global. Visit uspoloassnglobal.com and follow @uspoloassn.

About GAME POLO (www.poloridercup.com)

GAME POLO is a French sports marketing agency with activities in event management, marketing & sponsoring, licensing & merchandising, TV & digital distribution, and hospitality. GAME POLO is also the Organizer and Promoter of the POLO RIDER CUP.

GAME POLO is proud to announce that U.S. Polo Assn. will be the Official Apparel Partner for the next two editions (2023 & 2024) of the POLO RIDER CUP. As…

Polo News

Outstanding Quarter-Finals for upcoming dream Semi-Finals

16. September 2022

What could be better than „real“ quarter-finals (knockouts) to give rise to intense battles? Not much as the quarters of the Engel & Völkers French Open played since Saturday have demonstrated. The games have been incredibly hard-fought, fast-paced and each time the outcome has been decided on the wire, in the final chukker, with never more than a two goals difference. The four semi-finalists are now known and one thing is certain: the upcoming semi-finals will offer a glorious show.

The four most organised and successful teams of this tournament, and of French polo, will compete on Thursday for the two places of the final. The first quarter saw defending champions La Magdeleine barely escape the trap of Amanara, who came close to springing a surprise (10-9). With Pablo McDonough‘s organisation behind them, the Parisian team, who played the English season this summer, is a serious contender for the title, of course, but nothing can be taken for granted as this game proved on Saturday.

On Sunday, the game in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, saw Talandracas (Deauville), the only French team to have won the Queen‘s Cup in Windsor, trying to defeat the finalist of the Engel & Völkers 2021 French Open, Kazak, a big team organised around one of the aces of the Argentine Abierto, Jero Del Carril. Mission accomplished (9-7), but at the cost of a tough, yet beautiful fight with actions and turnarounds played at a breathtaking pace.

Two other quarters were equally undecided until the end on Monday when, once again, the verdict only came at the end of the final chukker. The local team of the Chantilly Polo Club, Los Dragones, winner of the Polo Rider Cup in June, and strengthened by the phenomenal Bautista Bayugar, was able to defeat the Argentinian club La Fija Sandbox though with great difficulty.

Another „high profile“ team, the only French-based team to have won the British Open Gold Cup, Brittany Polo Club, also had a scare. It took a coaching error – two La Berta players left the field to change horses at the wrong time – for Diego Cavanagh to give his team the lead (10-9), and then immediately put the game to bed (11-9 at the final bell). One of the most memorable moments of the game was the huge „golaso“ of the Brittany Polo Club‘s owner, Jean-François Decaux, after a crazy breakaway across the whole field.

La Magdeleine vs. Talandracas and Los Dragones vs. Brittany Polo Club, such is the line-up of these dream semi-finals of the 2022 Engel & Völkers French Open, one of the most exciting of this century. It is almost sad that it is already coming to an end.

Today (11 am., 1 pm and 3 pm.), the Women‘s French Open kicks off with six teams in the starting blocks representing seven different nationalities, including the world‘s number one, British Hazel Jackson. The beautiful sport never stops at the Polo Club de Chantilly and it will be so until Sunday, the big day of the finals.

Semi-finals of the Engel & Völkers French Open:

• La Magdeleine (FRA) vs. Talandracas (FRA), Thursday 15 September, 5pm
• Brittany Polo Club (FRA) vs. Los Dragones (FRA), Friday 16 September, 3pm

Above left: LA MAGDELEINE 16: Alexandre Garese (Cap 0), Santiago Tahier (1), Tito Ruiz Guinazu (7), Facundo F.Llorente (8)

Above right: BRITTANY POLO CLUB 16: Jean-François Decaux (Cap, 1), Benjamin Urquiza (6), Diego Cavanagh (8), Roberto Iturrioz (1)

Below left: LOS DRAGONES 16: Sam Sztarkman (2), Jota Chavanne (Cap, 5), Bautista Bayugar (8), Alexandre Sztarkman (1)

Below right: TALANDRACAS 16 : Edouard Carmignac (Cap, 0), Rufino Bensadon (7), Juan-Martin Zubia (8), Hugues Carmignac (1)

Photos by R&B Presse / Pascal Renauldon

What could be better than „real“ quarter-finals (knockouts) to give rise to intense battles? Not much as the quarters of the Engel & Völkers French Open played since Saturday have…

Europe, Polo News

Top European and international polo in Chantilly

26. July 2022

The Engel & Völkers French Open, under the umbrella of the French Polo Federation, brings together fourteen top-level teams over three weeks. Seventeen intense days where the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly becomes the largest European meeting of this discipline with more than a thousand polo horses on site. A technical and eventful feat also made possible thanks to the support of clubs and sports organizations based in the Île-de-France region.

For the past three years, the Engel & Völkers French Open has taken on a new sporting dimension, becoming the most competitive polo competition in September in Europe. This year, a record number of fourteen teams will take part in the Open. Teams from Germany, Great Britain, Argentina, Switzerland, and France, who, to ensure their competitiveness, have hired top Argentinean pros, the kind of players that are seen at the end of the year in the most important tournament in the world: the Argentine Open.

This exceptional line-up bodes well for some stunning games, as is often the case in September in Chantilly. Games open to the public during the week with, in parallel, other tournaments such as the Castel Trophy (6-8 goals) or the French Women‘s Open (13 to 18 September) which, once again, attracts some of the best female players in the world. Three weeks not to be missed under any circumstances, to discover polo in a relaxed way during the week or the great event that is the day of the finals, on Sunday 18 September, with its village, food-trucks, stands and animations, which will be open from 16 September.

Winner of the 2021 French Open, La Magdeleine will come back to defend its title with its two Argentine cracks Tito Ruiz Guiñazu and Facundo Llorente (1st and 2nd left). © R&B Presse

More about the participants:

Last year, French team La Magdeleine triumphed in Chantilly with one of the top players of the Argentine Open, Tito Ruiz Guiñazu.

Seven Argentine Open players in Chantilly!
To defend this title, he will be joined in Chantilly by other players from the Argentine Open: Diego Cavanagh, a member of the La Dolfina team in 2021 alongside Adolfo Cambiaso, will be in Chantilly with Brittany Polo; Bautista Bayugar, 26, considered in Argentina as one of the aces of tomorrow where he has evolved within the Alegria Fish Creek team, in Chantilly he will play for Los Dragones; Juan Gris Zavaleta who played in Palermo for Chapaleufù will defend the French colours of Tedelou with his cousins Ramiro and Simon, a family team put together by Isabelle Larenaudie; Guillermo Terrera, member of La Dolfina II, will reinforce the French team Rexaline, winner of the Bourbon Trophy last May; Jero Del Carril shines in Argentina with La Ensenada, and remains faithful to Kazak in France, finalist of the 2021 French Open. In short, seven of the forty players of the 2021 Argentine Open will be in Chantilly in September!

Amanara, the team of Dutchwoman Nicky Sen, returns to Chantilly with the impressive Santiago Chavane, a brilliant player who played alongside the Heguy brothers in the mythical Indios Chapaleufù I team. In Chantilly, he will throw his son Lorenzo, 14 years old, a child prodigy, into the big games. They will be joined by their brother and uncle, Jota Chavane, with Los Dragones.

The Copa Cámara podium in Chantilly!
La Magdeleine will return to defend the title with Tito Ruiz Guiñazu, who shone in Palermo with Alegria Fish Creek and who will play in Chantilly alongside Facundo Llorente, who was crowned MVP of the French final. Two months later, Llorente won the coveted Copa Cámara de Diputados in Buenos Aires, the antechamber to the Argentine Open. In Chantilly, he will be up against his teammates from La Irenitafrom that great adventure: Min Podesta in the team of French captain Bruno Bensousan, La Berta, based in England, and Agustin Garcia Grossi, who will be seen in Chantilly as a pillar of the new team La Fija Sandbox, whose French captain, Arthur Madrid, comes from Argentina.

Another former winner of this Copa Cámara, Martin Aguerre Jr. remains faithful to his Swiss team Marquard Media and to his emblematic captain of the Polo Club de Chantilly, Tomas Rinderknecht.

The Berlin Polo Club seems to have taken root in the Polo de Chantilly because after the Rider Cup, we will find the German club in the Open de France Engel & Völkers with Manuel Elizalde, who also played the Copa Cámara, as a pillar. The other German team, Team Schockemöhle, has renewed its confidence in French pro Clément Delfosse, who is always very explosive on the field and who will play alongside Argentine Valentin Novillo Astrada, a member of a famous polo family, and the German No. 1, Patrick Maleitzke.

Finally, the French n°1, Pierre Henri Ngoumou, will still be the leader of the Deauville team, Mungo, with the spectacular Tete Storni, Argentinean Pato Champion (the ancestor of horse-ball), but just as formidable on a polo field.

Facundo F. Llorente (right in white), best player in the final of the Engel & Völkers Open de France 2221, whose mare La Irenita Loli was crowned best horse in the same final, won the coveted Copa Cámara de Diputados in Buenos Aires three months later. He will return to Chantilly with La Magdeleine in September. © R&B Presse

Engel & Völkers French Open Teams

Photos: © R&B Presse

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The Engel & Völkers French Open, under the umbrella of the French Polo Federation, brings together fourteen top-level teams over three weeks. Seventeen intense days where the Polo Club du…

Europe, Polo News

French polo : the big stars are back on the fields

20. May 2022

Those who appreciate fast, beautiful polo with quality, magnificent horses, prepared like top-level athletes and top players are in for a treat from this weekend onwards at the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly with the launch of the Bourbon Trophy.

After the recent World Cup playoffs involving national teams, and while waiting for the Polo Rider Cup next June, then the Engel & Völkers French Open (in September), the Bourbon Trophy, first high-level tournament of the French season, will see a record number of eight teams entered: two Swiss, one Malaysian and five French. Above all, the Bourbon Trophy saw the return of top French and Argentinean professionals in action. The Malaysian BP Polo team will present the biggest handicap of the tournament, the Argentine Tomas Panelo (8), winner of the Queen‘s Cup and finalist of the British Open last year and will allow the young French hopeful Victor Louarn to show his talent. Regular player of the Argentine Open, Tito Ruiz Guiñazu (7) will be the pillar of the French team Le Pommeray HM which will also give a chance to a young female French player, Ambre Ploix.

Faithful for years to Chantilly and to his Swiss team Marquard Media, the Argentinean handicap 7 Martine Aguerre Jr, ex-winner of the Copa Camara and player of the Argentine Open, Martin Aguerre Jr, will be the third headliner of the Bourbon Trophy.

The two French 6-goalers will also be back on track: Pierre Henri Ngoumou from Normandy will play for Mungo, which will also feature the young Frenchman Ulysse Eisenchteter as well as the spectacular Tete Storni (5), and Brieuc Rigaux will play for the Swiss team Lynx alongside the best player of the World Cup playoffs, the Spaniard Pelayo Berazadi (5).

The tournament starts this weekend, and the final will be played on Sunday 5 June at 15:00 with games every weekend, but also during the week: Tuesday 24 May at 15:00, Thursday 26 and Friday 27 May at 17:00, Thursday 2 June at 12:00 and 17:00 and semi-finals on Friday 3 June at 12:00 and 17:00. Access to these matches is free.

TROPHEE-BOURBON 2022-10-12 GOALS

Those who appreciate fast, beautiful polo with quality, magnificent horses, prepared like top-level athletes and top players are in for a treat from this weekend onwards at the Polo Club…

Europe, Polo News

Europe Zone play-offs – from 30 april to 8 may 2022 Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly

25. April 2022

With about a week to go before the start of the tournament, the five teams participating in the European Zone play-offs of the World Polo Championship at the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly have just communicated their line-ups to the Federation of International Polo: the men in blue now know their opponents and will be able to prepare accordingly

Now it is known for instance that the Ruiz Guiñazu family is represented in two teams: Switzerland and Spain. The latter team, led by the excellent Spanish professional Pelayo Berazadi, seems to be the most impressive on paper: „Spain will certainly be our toughest opponent,“ confirms Frenchman Robert Strom. The team is made up of players who all have a lot of experience at the top level. Les Bleus will know very quickly what to expect from La Roja, as the latter will be their first opponent on 30 April at 5pm.

Italy is also a strong candidate for qualification (remember that only two of the five teams will be selected for the final phase of this World Cup). La Squadra Azzura has called on two players who are well known in France: Tete Fanelli and Martin Joaquin, who won last year‘s Coupe d‘Or de Deauville alongside the French team‘s striker Sam Sztarkman. A final where he was named MVP (most valuable player). „Along with Spain, Italy will certainly be the most difficult team to play against, without underestimating of course the quality of Germany and Switzerland“, Robert Strom also underlines.

The last time Switzerland participated in the FIP Polo World Championship was in 1995 in St. Moritz. Twenty-seven years later, the Swiss Federation is delighted to be able to present once more a competitive team at the World Championship qualifiers.

As in all team sports, Germany also has a strong team. It will be led by the German No. 1 Patrick Maleitzke, who has a good experience of the top level having played in last year’s Gold Cup and Queen‘s Cup in England with no other than Clément Delfosse, the pillar of the French team. Needless to say, the two men know each other well!

Five days of competition, ten games at the end of which it will be known, on Sunday 8 May, which two teams will go to Palm Beach for the final phase of this World Championship from 26 October to 6 November 2022.

„The World Polo Championship and its qualifiers are increasingly competitive and reflect the values of our sport. We need to strengthen both the top level and amateur polo in order to provide a solid foundation for our sport. And it is with this spirit that we are delighted to contribute to its development by hosting such events,“ said Jean-Edouard Mazery, President of the Federation of French Polo

THE TEAMS:

FRANCE (+14)
Sam Sztarkman (+2)
Robert Strom (+5)
Clement Delfosse (+5)
Sebastian Sorbac (+2)

ITALY (+13)
Stefano Giansanti (+1)
Goffredo Cutinelli Rendina (+3)
Martin Joaquin (+5)
Silvestre Fanelli (+4)

SPAIN (+14)
Pelayo Berazadi (+5)
Nicolas Ruiz Guifiazu (+4)
Luis Domecq (+3)
Nicolas Alvarez (+2)

GERMANY (+13)
Lukas Sdrenka (+2)
Juan Correa (+3)
Christopher Kirsch (+3)
Patrick Maleitzke (+5)

SWISS (+13)
Felipe Dana (+1)
Nicolas Rogerson (+2)
Marcos Goti (+5)
Tomas Ruiz Guinazu (+5)

THE PROGRAM:

Saturday 30 April:
• 15h00: Italy – Switzerland
• 17h00: France – Spain

Monday 2 May:
• 15h00: Italy – France
• 17h00: Switzerland – Germany

Wednesday 4 May:
• 15h00: Italy – Germany
• 17h00: Switzerland – Spain

Friday 6 May:
• 15h00: Italy – Spain
• 17h00: France – Germany

Sunday 8 May:
• 15h00: Switzerland – France
• 17h00: Spain

POLO CLUB DU DOMAINE DE CHANTILLY

Pascal Renauldon
+33 6 08 75 94 07

p.renauldon@rbpresse.com

With about a week to go before the start of the tournament, the five teams participating in the European Zone play-offs of the World Polo Championship at the Polo Club…

North America, Polo News

CHANTILLY GETS READY TO WELCOME THE BEST EUROPEAN TEAMS

21. March 2022

PLAY-OFFS ZONE EUROPE – FROM APRIL 30 TO MAY 8 2022
POLO CLUB DU DOMAINE DE CHANTILLY

From April 30th to May 8th, the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly will host the play-offs of the European zone. Ten days during which five nations – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland – will try to win two precious entries for the Federation of International Polo (FIP) World Polo Championship which will take place in the United States in Palm Beach County from 26 October to 6 November 2022

The first two games will take place on Saturday 30 April. The French team, whose selection will be announced at the end of March, will kick off the tournament. The games will take place every other day until Sunday 8 May, in a festive setting on the main field of the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly. At the end of these qualifiers, the two top ranked teams will go to the World Cup in Palm Beach. Hopefully our men in blue will succeed that day! There will also be lunches, game commentary, entertainment and a village for everyone to enjoy.

„We are proud to host the play-offs for the Europe zone of the 12th FIP Polo World Championship in France. It will certainly be an exceptional event for French polo fans, but also for all those who wish to discover our sport in the exceptional setting of the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly“, says Jean-Edouard Mazery, President of the French Polo Federation.

„After hosting the FIP World Championship in 2004, the Chantilly Polo Club will welcome the Zone C play-offs for the second time. We are delighted and honored to host this high-level event and hope that it will strengthen furthermore the presence and reputation of our club in the world „, says Arnaud de Chênevarin, President of the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly.

More than twenty-five nations will compete in five different zones or regions in order to qualify for the world championship. In the end, only eight international teams will be allowed to participate in the final phase of this highly anticipated event. As the host country, the United States are automatically qualified, as is the title defender Argentina. Another team that has already qualified is Uruguay, who postponed the Zone B play-offs in January in Punta Del Este.

The FIP World Polo Championship is hosted every three or four years by a different country, with the last one having been held in Australia in 2017. Due to the global pandemic, the tournament scheduled for 2020 has been moved to Palm Beach County in 2022, making this only the second time in history that the tournament will be held in the United States.

PLAY-OFFS ZONE EUROPE – FROM APRIL 30 TO MAY 8 2022 POLO CLUB DU DOMAINE DE CHANTILLY From April 30th to May 8th, the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly…

Europe, Polo News

OPEN DE FRANCE: La Magdeleine and Polo Park Zürich reach their dream!

20. September 2021

Open de France Engel & Völkers

A day of finals at the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly is a day of celebration with a touch of nostalgia: once the winners are known, three weeks of beautiful polo, conviviality and interactions come to an end. The Argentinean professionals will take the plane back home to prepare and start the „alta temporada“, the great season, the 700 horses will gradually leave the club, the lights will go out… If, in the women‘s category, Polo Park Zürich was an expected winner, in the Open de France Engel & Völkers, the result was a little more surprising.

It was not so much the name of the winner, La Magdeleine, that was a surprise, but the way in which this beautiful team, led by a luminous Facundo Llorente, logically nominated most valuable player of the game, dominated this final from start to finish. On paper, the two teams started as equals: Kazak had won all their games and La Magdeleine had only lost one… to Kazak. But today, things went very fast: 4 – 1 in the first chukker, 11-3 in the fourth before La Magdeleine lifted their foot off the gas (12 – 5 at the final bell).

The key to this domination was clearly the horses ridden by Facundo Llorente, a loan from one of the world’s best players, Pablo Mc Donough (h10). The spectacular accelerations of these Formula 1 ponies for sure made the difference today. It was one of these mares, La Irenita Loli, who was crowned best playing pony of the tournament and of the final. After their first and only defeat in the qualifying phase of the tournament, La Magdeleine put things right: „It‘s true that we were a bit worried because we had lost that first game against today’s opponents,“ confirms Facundo Llorente. „Their team plays hard. But today I brought out my best mares and we clearly played our best game of the season, we quickly understood that this was our day.” This is the fourth time in his career that Facundo Llorente has lifted the Open de France Engel & Völkers Cup but he will hardly have time to celebrate this triumph as he is leaving for Buenos Aires: „Now we have to get ready and try to qualify for the Argentine Open with La Irenita.” It is the stud of La Irinita that entrusted him with these wonderful horses that delighted the dense audience that came to enjoy this sporting show under a beautiful blue sky.

© R&B Presse

French Women‘s Open: Polo Park Zürich, as expected

There was no chance of a surprise in the Women‘s Open, as Polo Park Zurich dominated the tournament from start to finish, and it was with a high score (11-3) that the French Venot sisters lifted the trophy for the second year running: „We were under a bit of pressure, but we had already played them in the qualifying round. At the beginning of the tournament, we had a bit of trouble because we hadn‘t played together for a long time, but we soon found each other again,“ says Elena, the eldest. Because the „secret weapon“ of the Venot sisters… is being sisters! “We know each other by heart and we know before anyone else what the other will do… or not do.” Elena Venot, who is France’s best female player, also has plans for Argentina as she has been invited to take part in the Abierto Feminino, the most competitive competition in the world: „It was Luisa Del Carril who asked me to join her in a new team, La Ensenada. It‘s an incredible opportunity. I‘m going to leave at the beginning of November to organize my horses and prepare myself to put all the chances on our side“. But the dream of the Frenchwoman, who is expected to move up to handicap 7 next season, goes even further: „The idea is that we can participate together with my sisters in this Argentine Open. I don‘t know if it will happen, but it is a goal we are working on.”

Polo is a story of dreams. That of two captains, Morgan Van Overbroek and Alexandre Garese, who saw their efforts rewarded today with this first title in the Open de France Engel & Völkers; that of the Venot sisters who are dreaming of Palermo; that of the defeated teams who are already thinking about the organization that needs to be put in place to win this beautiful trophy in 2022; and that of the great players and speedy horses who have offered the world of polo and the public pure magic during these three weeks. Now it‘s time for the French Championships, which will start next week on these same grounds of the Polo Club de Chantilly, which is also the federal polo center. A great way to enjoy the thrilling French polo season just a little longer.