Ideal conditions, a perfect field, glorious sunshine and an already big crowd for the opening day of the Hublot Polo Gold Cup 2023. Two games with a completely different feel. The first match between Gstaad and Hublot was a Raul Laplacette festival, while the second match was an exciting neck-and-neck affair between the reds of Gstaad Palace and the greens of Kielder Agro Group.
Raul Laplacette and his team mates left Gstaad in 2022 with a clear victory in the final. This afternoon, the Argentinian cornerstone seemed to be back in his own garden on the beautiful grass of Gstaad-Saanen airport. He was everywhere: unstoppable in defense, stealing every ball from anyone who wanted to dribble, even from 7-goaler Martin Aguerre Jr., defending his goal with ruthless backs and, above all, scoring five goals, including a backhand golazo from an impossible angle the likes of which can only be seen in Palermo… and in Gstaad! But there is no good player without a good team, and Laplacette is admirably helped by his Argentinian team mates Francisco Fucci and Facundo Kelly. A team that has been “running” together for some time, and that is what made the difference in this first game.
It wasn’t until the last seven seconds and a 60-yard penalty goal from Argentina’s Pedro Fernandez Llorente that the winner of the very tight second game was decided: Gstaad Palace. Yet their opponents, Kielder Agro Group, were quite competitive as well with captain Cedric Schweri from Switzerland being particularly brilliant, scoring two goals and making numerous decisive defensive moves. Segundo Condesse’s golazo also stood out, escaping from one end of the field to the other yet keeping his cool in front of goal.
Tomorrow, players and horses will be at rest. Well, not quite, because they will be out and about in the streets of Gstaad for the traditional, colorful team parade starting at 4 p.m. A moment when polo meets Swiss traditions in a good-natured atmosphere.
The semi-finals on Saturday will pit Gstaad against Kielder Agro Group (1:30 p.m.) and Gstaad Palace against Hublot (3:00 p.m.).
Teams and progressions :
GAME 1
Team HUBLOT: Jürgen Schröder (hcp 0), Matias Gonzalez (hcp 4), Martin Aguerre Jr. (hcp 7, 4 goals of which 3 penalities)
Team GSTAAD: Sébastien Le Page (hcp 0), Facundo Kelly (hcp 4, 2 goals), Francisco Fucci (hcp 4, 4 goals), Raul Laplacette (hcp 6, 5 goals of which 1 penalty)
Progression GSTAAD: 4/0 – 6/2 – 7/4 – 11/4
MVP R&B Presse : Raul Laplacette
GAME 2
Team GSTAAD PALACE: Peter Cromm (hcp 0), Segundo Condesse (hcp 4, 5 goals), Teo von Neufforge (hcp 5), Pedro Fernandez Llorente (hcp 5, 3 goals of which 2 penalities)
Team KIELDER AGRO GROUP: Cedric Schweri (hcp 0, 2 goals), Joao Novaes (hcp 5, 3 goals), Tomi Astelarra (hcp 3, 2 goals), Francisco Menendez (hcp 6)
Progression GSTAAD PALACE: 2/3 – 4/5 – 6/5 – 8/7
