Rivals Valiente and Orchard Hill meet in Whitney Cup

WELLINGTON – The world’s top two players, Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres, continue their rivalry Sunday as they lead their teams into the final of the C.V. Whitney Cup at International Polo Club Palm Beach.

Cambiaso, who became the youngest 10-goaler in the history of the sport in 1991 at age 17, scored four goals to lead Valiente over Coca-Cola 12-3. Pieres, the son of the legendary Argentine Gonzalo Pieres who became a 10-goaler in 2007 at 20, scored eight goals to lead Orchard Hill over Coca-Cola 14-13 in overtime. Their preliminary game in the round-robin format on Wednesday was canceled because both had already qualified for the final.

With Cambiaso and Pieres dominating 26-goal polo, the sport’s highest level in the world outside of Argentina, the game has reached a fork in the road with just three teams entered in the C.V. Whitney Cup.

Four teams, with the addition of Marc Ganzi’s Audi, are expected to play in the USPA Gold Cup and five are anticipated for the U.S. Open. Audi has won four and reached five other finals during the 26-goal season in the last 10 years.

This is the fewest teams in the three main USPAsanctioned 26-goal tournaments in South Florida since 1997, when only four teams competed in the USPA Gold Cup at Royal Palm Polo in Boca Raton.

Part of the decline is that there are more venues offering high-goal polo other than Wellington during the winter season, most notably in Dubai and the Dominican Republic. Nine teams are playing 18-goal tournaments in Dubai, featuring five top players who consistently participated in Wellington. And five teams are playing 22-goal tournaments in the Dominican, two of which usually competed in Wellington.

Another reason may be that patrons believe they cannot win without either Cambiaso or Pieres on their roster. Teams piloted by one or the other have led their team to U.S. Open championship in eight of the past 10 years.

Each of their teams reached the U.S. Open the last two seasons. And Cambiaso-led teams have won six of the last 10 USPA Gold Cup titles. Pieres-led teams have won four of the last 10 C.V. Whitney Cup crowns while Cambiaso’s teams have won twice.

Discussions of changes for the 2018 high-goal season have begun. A suggestion includes dropping the level from 26 goals to 22 goals for the Big Three tournaments and lowering the level to 18 goals for the other major high-goal tournaments. putting them in sync with the top tournaments in England and Spain.

It is unknown when a decision will be made but the Cambiaso-Pieres rivalry is expected to continue the rest of the season.