Ascona Polo Cup: Engel & Völkers wins 10th-anniversary tourney
Polo thriller at its best and double-digit results in almost all matches were the hallmarks of the three-day polo classic which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
It was a breathtaking and even final between the two finalists Engel & Völkers Ascona and team sponsor newcomer Winston/Hotel Maloja Kulm.
The six players from five nations, who faced each other in the final, could not have been more different. The Frenchman Constant Jacquot and the Argentine 4-goaler Carlos Genes were in top form at the side
of Gerardo Cosentina from Liechtenstein, who had already won for sponsor Porsche last year and who now played with his team in the colours of Engel & Völkers.
The Brazilian Marcus Schalldach played together with the German Caroline Juls and the 6 goaler Santiago Schweizer from Argentina for the new sponsor The Winston, who took part in the tournament as a team sponsor and catering partner for the first time.
Fighting stakes in the first two chukkers brought Engel & Völkers, who had started with one goal ahead because of the team handicap, in the first round to a 4-1 lead.
But Marcus Schalldach and his team held against it and caught up with powerful defensive and cleverly used scoring chances to 4 - 4 before they took the lead themselves. Goal after goal it went ahead, not a millimetre and even less no-ball was given to the opponent.
It was the two Argentineans who dominated the game, Schalldach and the Frenchman Jacquot added some great tactical moves. Marcus Schalldach had already played in 2015 in Ascona and won here.
In the jubilee year, he was now awarded as the “Most Valuable” player of the tournament. Cosentino turned several penalties into goals.
After an 8-8, 9-9 and finally 10-10, the last regular chukker seemed to end in a draw when Carlos Genes shot the 11-10 for Engel & Völkers just a few seconds before the final bell.
Fast-paced, exciting, acclaimed, with tactical highlights and goals worth seeing, highlighted the final that did credit to the anniversary tournament at the only Swiss Polo Club south of the Alps.