Chapaleufú: back on top

Cambiaso and company dominate the Argentine season but lose the Open to the 1995 champions

By Matías Dell'Anno

As every year, this past December the Palermo polo fields at Buenos Aires became the rendezvous for polo players and enthusiasts from all over the world. More than 15,000 people gathered for the most exciting and awaited polo match of the year, the Argentine Open final.

This match is not only about what happens on the field but also what happens off the field. Before the match the Palermo field becomes a meeting place for polo authorities, patrons, players, businessmen, sponsors, coaches, reporters, photographers, grooms, etc. Nobody wants to miss the chance of meeting new, interesting people. But the field is where the big thing is going to happen. Eight players are waiting to determine who will be the champion of the 108th Argentine Open, Indios Chapaleufú or La Dolfina.

La Dolfina, the team led by Adolfo "Dolfi" Cambiaso, reached the final after an outstanding season. Cambiaso put La Dolfina together a year ago when he quit Ellerstina. The players are Bartolomé "Lolo" Castagnola, a 9-goal player who has had a very close friendship with Cambiaso since 1995, when he joined Ellerstina; Sebastían Merlos, also 9 goals, who was hired to play on Ellerstina in 2000 but left that team to join Cambiaso on La Dolfina; Juan Ignacio "Pite" Merlos, now 10 goals, having been raised from 9 after the Argentine Open-the missing part for the perfect team. Last year with this outstanding team La Dolfina won the Hurlingham Open, the second tournament of the triple crown, and was also a finalist in the Argentine Open. In the final La Dolfina lost against Indios Chapaleufú II.

This year they started with everything to win. At the beginning of the season they played the Tortugas Open (third title in the Triple Crown) and they got to the semi-finals, but the tournament was suspended because of the rains. Then they won the Hurlingham Open, showing that they were finally playing as a team and that to beat them would take a lot. To win the Hurlingham Open they beat Ellerstina and Indios Chapaleufú II, two tough opponents.

But not everything was so great for La Dolfina. At the beginning of the Tortugas Open, and because of the problems with the local and international economy, they lost their corporate sponsor, so this year one of the most promising teams played without a sponsor.

Indios Chapaleufú, on the other side, has been one of the powerhouses in modern Argentine polo. They've won the Argentine Open five times since 1986. This team was the perfect team in the early '90s, with 40 goals and four brothers playing together. But in the past few years they've had a lot of problems, the biggest the death of Gonzalo Heguy last year. That was an enormous hit for the team. Last year they decided to call Hector Guerrero (7 goals), cousin of the three Heguy brothers. But things didn't turn out the way they should have, and Chapaleufú didn't reach the semi-finals. So at the beginning of this year they called a more experienced player who could help the team to go back to their best: Mariano Aguerre. Aguerre had played for Ellerstina from 1994 to 1999 and for El Paraiso in the 2000 season.

With this new player Indios Chapaleufú was the highest handicapped team (38 goals) and they had a good chance of winning again. The season didn't start very well for them. They got to the Tortugas semi-finals, but the match was suspended because of the rain when they were losing 10-7 against La Dolfina. The tournament was canceled because of the inclement weather.

Then, at the Hurlingham Open they lost in the semi-finals against Indios Chapaleufú II by seven goals. As a team they still needed some practice, and play together was essential. To reach the final of the Argentine Open they had to play against the biggest teams and won every match. The first was against La Dolfina in a match where both teams were already qualified for the next round, so no one wanted to over-exert their horses. They won by seven goals, and in the semi-finals they beat Chapaleufú II 15-11 in the most exciting match prior to the final.

The final was the most outstanding match I've seen in a long time. It made me remember the great matches between Indios Chapaleufú and Ellerstina in the early '90's because of the excitement and the strength of both teams.

The first chukker was pure adrenaline. La Dolfina took the lead and scored two goals. They wanted to be ahead on the scoreboard from the first moment, and with a great performance by Pite Merlos and Dolfi Cambiaso, they did it.

The second chukker was completely different. Bautista Heguy took the lead and Chapaleufú was again the team they used to be. They were playing as a whole, with the individual brilliance of Bauti, but always playing together. Knowing exactly what to do and where to be at every moment, they were again a team.

The pressure of the crowd, most of whom were cheering for Chapaleufú, made Cambiaso miss four penalties during the first half of the match.

The excitement continued as every chukker was loaded with goals, great individual plays and teamwork. By the third chukker the match was tied at 5, and from there La Dolfina took the lead again.

In the fourth chukker Cambiaso played his favorite horse, Colibrí, a 19-year-old pony who played with him last season. This time it was his farewell game as Cambiaso wanted to play Colibrí in the Open final before retiring him.

La Dolfina stayed ahead on the scoreboard, but Chapaleufú were never very far behind and were awaiting a mistake from their rivals.

By the middle of the seventh chukker the score was 14-10, and some people thought that the match was over for Chapaleufú. But that's not what the Heguy brothers and Aguerre had in mind. At the end of the chukker Chapaleufú nailed three to bring the score to 14-13. The Chapaleufú fans were happy again.

The eighth chukker was incredible, with action everywhere you looked and goals all around. By the fifth minute of the eighth chukker the score was 15-15, and the crowd was going crazy. When there was only a minute and a half left Cambiaso scored a goal. The only thing La Dolfina had to do to become the new champion was to stop Chapaleufú from scoring. It seemed easy, but when you have Bautista Heguy playing on the other side, nothing is easy. With only a minute left, a 60-yard penalty was enough for Chapaleufú to even it up 16-16 and send the match into an extra chukker.

Tension reigned. The crowd was waiting in silence while the players changed their horses and decided how to proceed. The first goal was to end the biggest game in the world as a win for whoever hit it, so there was no room for error.

In La Dolfina's corner there was some furious strategizing, and a plan was finally reached. In Chapaleufú's corner Bautista was the one who had the idea. He told his teammates what they should do and how they must play.

TThe bell rang announcing the overtime period. The two teams were facing each other, and the ball was in the air. Bautista hit the ball to Marcos, who hit a backhander to Mariano Aguerre. Mariano eyed the goalposts and hit it right through them.

Thirty-two seconds into the extra chukker Indios Chapaleufú became the new champion! As the crowd massed onto the field, Mariano jumped off his horse, slumped to the ground and started to cry. The four teammates got together on the center of the field, overwhelmed by emotion and the thought that they were the champions again. It had been six long years since 1995, when they last won an Argentine Open. For this team, everything was happiness and joy.

On the other side there was sadness and deception. La Dolfina was ahead on the scoreboard all through the match, but they committed one mistake. They underestimated their rival, and that's what cost them the match.

The player of the match was, without question, Bautista Heguy, who played the game of his life. He scored 12 goals in an Argentine Open final, led his team like a field marshal and played as never before. Two days before the match, when a local newspaper asked him what his hopes were, he said he would settle with getting to the final. Considering La Dolfina's performance during the season, most people thought Chapaleufú didn't have a chance to win the tournament. But Bauti proved them wrong. After the match he received all the imaginable awards: most valuable player of the match, best Argentine breed mare, best playing pony, and he scored the most goals in the tournament. He showed again why he's a 10-goaler and one of the best polo players in the world.

The new kid in town was Mariano Aguerre, who played this season for the first time for the Chapaleufú team. He was, needless to say, very happy with the team and the results. He scored "the goal" that made Indios Chapaleufú the new champions. He played a great match, and during the season he worked to get along well with the Heguy brothers. They practiced and practiced, but the official games are the ones that count, and they played great in the matches that count. It was a matter of time until Mariano became a part of the team and meshed well with the inimitable Heguys. By the time of the Open final, he was already playing as a member of the team, and the rest of the team were playing with him in the right way.

On La Dolfina, Juan Ignacio "Pite" Merlos was one of the most outstanding players. He did a lot for the team and was a great help for Dolfi Cambiaso. His play was so grand that the Argentine Polo Association raised his handicap from 9 to 10, so he has become the seventh 10 goaler in Argentina right now. The other six are Mariano Aguerre, Dolfi Cambiaso, Bautista Heguy, Ignacio "Nachi" Heguy, Eduardo "Ruso" Heguy and Marcos Heguy.

The last player to get 10 goals in Argentina was Sebastian Merlos in 1997, but then he was dropped to 9 in 1998. Now his brother is the first 10-goaler in the 21st century. This was definitely not the best year for one of the best polo players of our time. Dolfi Cambiaso almost had it all, but this time the Argentine Open slipped out of his hands again. After he started a great season by winning all the matches of the Tortugas Open, and after he won the Hurlingham Open, he was preparing himself and his team to win the most important of all, the Argentine Open. During the season we saw him doing things that few people can, scoring goals that were unbelievable and getting along with his teammates to put together a real team. All this sacrifice and dedication were not enough to close the year with the cherry on the top … just because of one goal. The 19-year-old horse that was there when Cambiaso won the Argentine Open in 1997 and 1998, playing for Ellerstina, said goodbye to high-goal polo in the Argentine Open final. This horse was Cambiaso's favorite, and he promised that before retiring it would play a chukker in this year's Argentine Open. So he did it, not only for a chukker, but for three whole chukkers-one at a match on the first round and two during the final. Before the season began there were many changes. The Argentine Polo Association changed in March as former 10-goaler Gonzalo Tanoira became the new president of the institution.

Tanoira vowed to make some changes and quickly started to manage the institution as a company. He's created a marketing section as well as a press bureau to help smooth relations between the media and the association.

Tanoira also decided to optimize the rules by adding the yellow card to control the behavior of the players inside the field, and offer the referees a new tool to use. The AAP also decided to reorganize the schedules and move some of the tournaments from the October-December season to the March-May season. This was in answer to the weather, to allow an extra week between every high-goal tournament and also a way to promote the March-May season.

For this purpose the AAP also decided to organize a test match game between a team from Argentina and a team from the United Kingdom that will be held in April at the Palermo polo fields in Buenos Aires.

Even with the bad fortune of the rains interfering with schedules, on balance it was a good, if difficult, year for the new president. Players seem to be happy with all the changes except for some controversy over the yellow cards. Some of the players are not very happy with this new system.
The yellow cards system is similar to the one used in soccer or in other sports. When a player commits an aggressive foul or misbehaves, he receives a yellow card. If he collects three yellow cards in the season he will be suspended for the immediate match after the last yellow card. If he collects two yellow cards in the same match he will be suspended for the next match, and if he collects three yellow cards during the same match he will have to get off the field for the rest of that match. The team can use a substitute for the player if he was on the field in less than 5 minutes. And the player will also receive a sanction from the discipline committee.
This year was a great year with respect to the number and quality of teams playing the Argentine Open. Eight teams tried to qualify, and four of them were 35 goals or more: Indios Chapaleufú, 38; La Dolfina, 37; Indios Chapaleufú II, 38; and Ellerstina, 35.
The rest of the teams (Sol de Agosto, Hurlingham, El Paraíso and La Irenita Embriones) played qualifying matches during the Hurlingham Open to see which two would be playing the Argentine Open. The teams that made it to the Argentine Open were:

Indios Chapaleufú (38 goals)
Bautista Heguy (10)
Mariano Aguerre (10)
Horacio Heguy (8)
Marcos Heguy (10)

Indios Chapaleufú II (38 goals)
Ignacio "Nachi" Heguy(10)
Alberto Pedro "Pepe" Heguy (9)
Milo Fernández Araujo (9)
Eduardo "Ruso" Heguy (10)

La Dolfina (37 goals)
Adolfo "Dolfi" Cambiaso (10)
Sebastián Merlos (9)
Juan Ignacio Merlos (9)
Bartolomé "Lolo" Castagnola (9)

Ellerstina (35 goals)
Eduardo Novillo Astrada (9)
Javier Novillo Astrada (9)
Gonzalo Pieres Jr. (8)
Miguel Novillo Astrada (9)

Sol de Agosto (30 goals)
Tomás Fernández Llorente (8)
Santiago Chavanne (7)
Francisco de Narvaez (7)
Marcos Di Paola (8)

El Paraíso (30 goals)
Javier Tanoira (7)
Ernesto Trotz (8)
Silvestre Donovan (7)
Alejandro Agote (8)