Tickets sold out quickly for the Vecinos Cup at Polo Park Zürich 2-3 September 2023. It was the last large event of the season and the hospitality tent was packed with guests. Rain had interrupted games the weekend before, but for this weekend the Indian Summer got itself back on track - perfect polo weather, lavish hospitality, exciting sponsors and, of course, scintillating polo.
Low Goal
The Low Goal Round Robin had given us the Low Goal final of Swiss Pharmacan vs Polo Park Zürich. Annette Fetscherin for Swiss Pharmacan played a determined game and went on to win Most Valuable Female Player, while her team mates Reto Hausammann and Gabriel Hatzug kept up their pace attacks over the four chukkers. Claudia Ide and Melchior De Villeneuve played to position but this team struggled to break through the defense put up by Polo Park Zürich. The team for Polo Park Zürich had Morgan Van Overbroek and Tutti Wolfensberger working together to overwhelm the opposition and feeding Max Gnesi who made the opening goal for his team. Shiva and Sue-Ann Strub shared a position, and they not only look alike but also play in a similar fashion. Composed and consistent, helping to take their team to first place.
Medium Goal
The crowd streamed onto the field to tread in the divots and help prepare the field for the next game - the Medium Goal Finals between Los Lobos and Equilibrium. We were given a great game to watch, with both teams fielding two +4 players, Francisco Fucci (Equilibrium) and Facundo Kelly (Los Lobos) - standout performers who could give us a devastating display of speed and skill. Los Lobos were quick to find their rhythm and looked like the hot favorites with Armand Le Page and his talented friend from Italy, Lucas Bertola, playing at positions 1 and 2 and really putting the pressure on up front. Unfortunately Lucas had to be replaced towards the end of the second chukker due to injury and this seemed to break their flow. Tutti Wolfensberger was an aggressive substitute and Stefan Roth came into his own as an important link player, but the spell was broken.
Despite this, is was a tight game, with Equilibrium having the better of the second half. Francisco Fucci is an experienced, battle-hardened operator, who showed commendable calm, driving his young team of Manuel Bereterbide, Thomas Aegerter, and Tuuli Sopanen forward. Manuel was impressive, an all-round performer. In the last minutes of the last chukker Los Lobos saw their hopes of victory going up in smoke with Equilibrium achieving 6 1/2 goals to Los Lobos 4.
A big thanks to the sponsors, players and organizers for a wonderful weekend.
Winners Low Goal
Polo Park Zürich:- Morgan Van Overbroek, Tutti Wolfensberger, Max Gnesi, Shiva+Sue-Ann Strub
Swiss Pharmacan:- Annette Fetscherin, Reto Hausammann, Gabriel Hatzug, Claudia Ide/Melchior De Villeneuve
Hato:- Andrew Guthrie, Adrien Galo-Dejean, Andy Bernhard, Franziska Fuhrer
G-Squared:- Richard Harris, Alexandra Roudneva, Christoph Adelmann, Michael Bagattini
Aegerter Wines:- Laure Morel, Sammy Joe Strub, Remo Berger, Ueli Brunschweiler
MVP Tutti Wolfensberger
Fair Play Prize Reto Hausammann
MVFP Annette Fetscherin
Winners Medium Goal
1.Equilibrium:- Tuuli Sopanen, Thomas Aegerter, Manuel Bereterbide, Francisco Fucci
2.Los Lobos:- Armand Le Page, Lucas Bertola, Facundo Kelly, Stefan Roth
MVP Facundo Kelly
