The title holder Gstaad Palace once again winner of the Hublot Polo Gold Cup Gstaad
Winnerteam Gstaad Palace
The fourth and final day of the 14th Hublot Polo Gold Cup Gstaad (a High Goal tournament which is part of the World Polo Tour) ended today with a victory for the Gstaad Palace team. Around 7000 spectators and guests were present at the tournament. The four participating teams gave of their best under the blazing Bernese Oberland sun: Gstaad Palace, Hublot, Star Design and Porsche. The Gstaad Palace team repeated its victory of last year with a close score of 6˝ - 6 against Hublot. Star Design came in third, winning against Porsche with a score of 8˝ - 8. Porsche thus finished fourth, despite an excellent performance by its top-notch players.
Gstaad, 23 August 2009: “One can’t imagine polo played with more passion, more skill or more class,” said Alexander Schwarz, one of the announcers at the tournament. The game plan for the last day of this great competition was as follows: Semi-final: Star Design vs. Porsche; Final: Gstaad Palace vs. Hublot.
Despite the Gstaad Palace team having 1˝ advance points at the start of the match, the Hublot team players were able to score nearly enough points to reach victory. The high standard of play on the part of both teams fascinated the spectators. The competitive spirit and the pressure felt from the very beginning of the match by no means took away from the beauty and skill of these first-rate players. The young Swiss polo talent Sacha Pictet (handicap 0) of the winning team played a strong defense, while his father, the Gstaad Palace team captain was unequaled in the offense. The Argentine Hector Guerrero (handicap 7) did honor to his name in backing his captain in every situation. Alejandro Agote (handicap 8) distinguished himself once again with his long shots which no one could stop.
The Swiss and Italian Gualtiero Giori (handicap 1), captain of the Hublot team, was often the source of inspiration and motivation for the offense. Today it was once again clear that the experience that Giori and the Menendez brothers (both handicap 7) have had playing together as a team for more than 13 years made for polo of an exceptionally high standard. The Menendez brothers move so well together that one can confuse them on the field. Teté Storni (handicap 3) was particularly brilliant in yesterday’s match. Today found him less strong in the face of his opponents, though he contributed as well to the final result.
Polo_Gold_Cup_-_Press_Release_-_EN_-_September_2009.pdf