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tourists who visit its unequalled beauty. Most likely none of them know–neither is it their business to know, or need they even worry about it–that in 1899 polo “appeared” for the first time on the St. Moritz scene, when the first field was created for members of the British cavalry seeking to practice their favourite pastime, because they felt home-sick for their native land. A long time after, polo began to vibrate to the South of the Alps, in a club (the St. Moritz Polo Club) that has just over 100 members who, should they wish to possess life membership, may do so for approximately 15 thousand dollars.
Many foreign and Swiss tourists merged with the numerous attendance that created the special framework for the World Cup final. At times the level of play was high. Brioni suffered during the first chukkas because they were rather weak in their defence with Guy Schwarzenbach and Charlie Hanbury having to put up with an effective David Sterling, and was losing 3 to 1 after the second chukka. But the champion reared its head under Novillo Astrada (Jr.) and Fernández Araujo’s drive, heading for the goal against Cartier.
And so they bridged the gap in the third chukka. All the same, it looked as though the team that numbered Juan José Brané–firm and enduring as the minutes went by–among its players would carry off the title. But that’s when Novillo Astrada ( Jr.) appeared again and forced a supplementary chukka. Brioni did not lessen the pressure or its thirst for victory and through its best player–later proclaimed the most valuable player of the tournament–made the goal that lead to their victory, this being his third goal of the afternoon.
But all was not roses for Brioni on its road to glory. In its very debut it was beaten by none other than the team that would prove the loser in the final. It was a 2-1 score in favour of Cartier in a game that was very even and in which only in the last chukka did they make their difference. Later they were able to smile for the first time: they showered Maybach with goals 7-3 with superlative performances by both Argentines, who made 3 goals each. In their third match, Brioni beat Bank Julios Baer 4-2 which gave it its pass into the final after a very close game that it only defined in the last minutes of play.
To conclude, Brioni was able to get rid of the thorn in its side of 2006 when with the same team, it had hardly been able to rise to the third step of the podium after only just qualifying, with the same amount of points as the finalists, but with a lesser goal average. In the previous season, the 2007 champion beat Mayback and so was able to get the bronze medal. On the other hand Cartier was defending the title gained by a 5-4 score against Bank Hofmann.
In the 22 years that have gone by since the first World Cup, the tournament has gone forward slowly but surely. In this way, special items have been added for the horses to have a better hold, for instance, as well as a ball whose size, consistency and colour are more adequate for playing in the snow, and emergency floaters for the vehicles that must be used for preparing the ground. The infrastructure at St. Moritz is growing year by year, and today we are presented with a great “city” with stands, parking lots for hundreds of cars and an audience that grows in number with every edition.
This time close competition lasted four days. Around about 20 thousand people took no notice of the cold and converged at the frozen surface of the St. Moritz lake to watch exciting polo matches and Brioni’s triumph. The tournament was complete for the champion, which besides having Novillo Astrada (Jr.) as best player, also had Tía, a mare of his own, as best polo playing pony of the tournament and Charlie Hanbury as the most outstanding amateur polo player among the registered participants. The tournament, therefore, was filled with joy amidst this paradise landscape.
The snow at St. Moritz provided the grand scenery. The city that is divided into St. Moritz Dorf (mostly composed of luxury hotels, shops and grocery stores where caviar is an every day item on your shopping list) and St. Moritz Bad (it boasts an original bathing spa with thermal waters) which was the venue chosen on two occasions for the Olympic Winter Games to be held, and that hosted the best of world polo. It also hosted the excitement, the adrenalin and the courage that only a polo player astride a horse can offer.
TEAMS
CARTIER
Adriano Agosti (Switzerland)
David Sterling (England)
José Donoso (Chile)
Juan José Brane (Argentina)
MAYBACH
Philipp Maeder (Switzerland)
Nicolás Espain (Argentina)
Pablo Jauretche (Argentina)
Agustin García Grossi (Argentina)
BRIONI
Charlie Hanbury (England)
Eduardo Novillo Astrada (h) (Argentina)
Milo Fernández Araujo (Argentina)
Guy Schwarzenbach (Switzerland)
BANK JULIUS BAER
Tony Pidgley (England)
Jack Baillieu (Australia)
Marcos di Paola (Argentina)
Andrew Hine (England)
GOALERS
1 Nicolás Espain 10
2 Marcos di Paola 9
2 Eduardo Novillo Astrada (Jr.) 9
4 David Sterling 7
5 Jack Bailleu 4
5 Juan José Brane 4
5 José Donoso 4
5 Milo Fernández Araujo 4
9 Pablo Jauretche 3
10 Charlie Hanbury 2
PLAY-OFFS
Cartier 3 3 0 13 9 6
Brioni 3 2 1 12 7 4
Maybach 3 1 2 13 16 2
Bank Julius Baer 3 0 3 9 15 0
RESULTS
First day
Maybach 6-Bank Julius Baer 3
Progression: Maybach 1-1, 2-3, 5-3 and 6-3
Goals: Grossi (1), Espain (4) and Jauretche (1) (Maybach); Baillieu (1) and Di Paola (2) (Bank Julius Baer)
Best Players of the match: Espain and Di Paola
Cartier 2-Brioni 1
Progression: Cartier 1-0, 2-0, 2-0 and 2-1
Goals: Sterling (1) and Donoso (1) (Cartier); and Novillo Astrada (Jr.) (1) (Brioni)
Best Players of the match: Sterling, Brane and Novillo Astrada
Second day
Cartier 5-Bank Julius Baer 4
Progression: Cartier 2-0, 2-1, 2-3 and 5-4
Goals: Sterling (1), Donoso (2) and Brane (2) (Cartier); Baillieu (1) and Di Paola (3) (Bank Julius Baer).
Best Players of the match: Di Paola, Brane and Sterling
Brioni 7-Maybach 3
Progresssion: Brioni 1-1, 3-2, 5-3 y 7-3
Goals: Hanbury (1), Novillo Astrada (Jr.) 3 and Fernández Araujo (3) (Brioni); Grossi (2) and Espain (1) (Maybach)
Best Players of the match: Novillo Astrada (Jr.), Grossi y Hanbury
Third day
Brioni 4-Bank Julius Baer 2
Progression: Brioni 1-0, 1-0, 3-2 and 4-2
Goals: Hanbury (1), Novillo Astrada (Jr.) (2) and Fernández Araujo (1) (Brioni); and Di Paola (2) (Nank Kulius Baer
Best Players of the match: Novillo Astrada (Jr.), Fernández Araujo and Di Paola
Cartier 6-Maybach 4
Progression: Cartier 2-2, 5-3, 5-3 and 6-4
Goals: Agosti (1), Stirling (2), Donoso (1) and Brane (2) (Cartier); Espain (3) and Jauretche (1) (Maybach)
Best Players of the match: Donoso, Brane and Espain
Third place
Bank Julius Baer 5-Maybach 4
Progression: Bank Julius Baer 2-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 5-4
Goals: Baillieu (2), Di Paola (2) and Hine (1) (Bank Julius Baer; and Grossi (1), Espain (2) and Jauretche (1)
Best Players of the match: Di Paola and Espain
Final
Brioni 4-Cartier 3
Progression: Brioni 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 3-3, 4-3
Goals: Novillo Astrada (Jr.) (3) and Schwarzenbach (1) (Brioni); and Sterling (3) (Cartier)
Best Players of the match: Novillo Astrada (Jr.), Sterling and Fernández Araujo