The 2014 La Martina Miami Beach Polo World Cup X, the world’s largest and most prestigious Beach Polo competition, culminated on Sunday, April 27th with an exciting men’s final that marked the tournament’s Ten Year Anniversary, a decade of world class cavalry and social fun in the sun.
Thursday, April 24th opened with a series of hard fought matches during the competition’s first day of the La Martina South Beach Women’s Polo Cup VI, as female teams battled it out to claim the prestigious title.
The eight teams of women, consisting of players from all over the world, competed in two divisions of play for the sixth consecutive year with the team from La Martina (Scarlet Davenport, Maggie McNamara and Laura Willson) taking top honors in Division One with a 2-1 win over the Eden Roc/Cheeki team (Kaila Doud, Slaney O’Hanlon and Lynn O’Connor). Doud was named MVP while Laura Willson’s “Little Joe” received Best Playing Pony honors.
FontaineBleau Aviation (Lynda Mariano, Sabina Barnett and Kerstie Allen) won Division Two in convincing fashion, in a 7-1 defeat of the Jet Blue team (Coco Smith, Bobette Martin and Leah Masters). Kerstie Allen scored all seven goals for FontaineBleau Aviation to earn MVP honors in her division, with her horse “Kai” taking Best Playing Pony honors.
The opening match of the tenth annual La Martina Miami Beach Polo World Cup men’s competition on Friday, April 26th saw a parity in the 2:00pm match with The Raleigh team representing Pakistan beating the La Martina team, representing Argentina, in the final seconds, 11-10. Heightening the excitement on the day, the 3:00pm match up had the Yellow Cab team, representing Russia, defeating the talented Metropolitan by COMO team, representing USA, in a triple overtime shoot out, resulting in a 7-6 score. In the final game of the day, the Merchant Hub team, representing Brazil, saw Luis Escobar scoring nine goals, including a pair of 2-pointers, for a 10-8 victory over the Eden Roc/La Herradura team, representing Mexico.
Some fast paced action on the sands of Miami Beach on Saturday set the scene for Sunday’s finals of the 2015 La Martina Miami Beach Polo World Cup with the team from The Raleigh Hotel, representing Pakistan (2-0), and the team from Yellow Cab, representing Russia (2-0) making their way to the finals of the competition’s 10 Year Anniversary.
Pakistan (Bash Kazi, Juan Monteverde and Brandon Phillips) opened Saturday’s action with an 8-7 win over a plucky Metropolitan by COMO team, representing USA (Lance Vetter, Guille Usandizaga and John Gobin), winning their second match in two days and securing a place in the finals. In the day’s second game, the team from Yellow Cab, representing Russia (Tyler Garber, Tavi Usandizaga and Sebastian Merlos) spanked the Eden Roc team, representing Mexico 13-8. It was Russia’s second win that paved the way for their appearance in Sunday’s title game.
The La Martina team, representing Argentina (MZ. Kazi, David Tafuri, Carlitas Gracida and Tommy Biddle) upset the team from Merchant Hub, representing Brazil (Tommy Kato, Pelan Escapite and Luis Escobar) run for the title by holding on for a 7-6 win in the final seconds of play.
Fifty-two chukkers of Polo on the beach ended with a flourish on Sunday afternoon as the Yellow Cab team representing Russia (Tyler Garber, Tavi Usandizaga and Sebastian Merlos) scooped an impressive 12-5 win over The Raleigh team representing Pakistan (Bash Kazi, Juan Monteverde and Brandon Phillips) in the final of the 2014 La Martina Miami Beach Polo World Cup. MVP Sebastian Merlos set the pace for Russia’s Yellow Cab with nine goals, including a two-pointer from one end of the arena, to lead all scoring.
Earlier in the day, the Merchant Hub team, representing Brazil (Tommy Kato, Pelon Escapite and Luis Escobar) won the Carl Fisher International Challenge Cup in an 8-5 win over the La Martina team, representing Argentina (MZ. Kazi, David Tafuri, Carlitos Gracida and Tommy Biddle). Pelon Escapite took MVP honors with teammate Luis Escobar’s “Geevo” being named Best Playing Pony. During the opening match of the day, the Metropolitan by COMO team, representing USA (Lance Vetter, Guille Usandizaga and John Gobin) registered a 9-6 win over the Eden Roc team, representing Mexico (Jason Crowder, Mariano Gracida and Weston Gracida) in the final of the Fleischman Memorial Cup.
“This year’s La Martina Miami Beach Polo World Cup was a spectacular success,” said Bruce Orosz, president and co-founder of The Polo Life, LLC. “We wanted to make our Ten Year Anniversary extremely special and our largest attendance to-date made the occasion the most memorable celebration and truly shows how the competition has become one of the most popular annual events in South Florida. The Miami Beach Polo World Cup sets the international stage for our first overseas tournament in China this July. We’d like to thank all of our sponsors, patrons and supporters for helping us reach this year’s wonderful milestone.”
Attendees at this year’s La Martina Miami Beach Polo World Cup experienced the annual series of VIP events that took place each night and in to the early hours. Specialty cocktails courtesy of Perfect Vodka were served as players, patrons and sponsor representatives mingled at the Metropolitan by COMO, Baoli, Adore nightclub and SLS Hotel South Beach, as part of a very active after-hours social schedule. During the day on Saturday, La Martina showcased its latest lines of contemporary styles during an elegantly produced fashion show in the VIP tent. On Sunday, Lou La Vie presented Auto Art Miami, a curated installation of 50 of the world’s most significant automobiles, valued at over $100 million and installed throughout Collins Park for art lovers, enthusiasts and design aficionados to enjoy before, during and after the tournament’s match play.
The traditional post-event awards ceremony was held at the end of each tournament to celebrate the winning teams from both competitions, during which Robert Kiger, owner of Elegante Polo, presented the trophy to the women’s champions and Adrian Simonetti, president of La Martina, did the honors for the men’s.
This year’s La Martina South Beach Women’s Polo Cup VI and La Martina Miami Beach Polo World Cup X was sponsored by La Martina, Lou La Vie (Auto Art Miami), Mecum Yacht Auctions, Perfect Vodka and A&E, with support from the GMCVB and Miami Beach VCA.
More than 10,000 people attended this year’s La Martina Miami Beach Polo World Cup over the four days, and the tournament featured the world’s top professional polo players from as far as Russia, Switzerland and Malaysia, as well as the very best from South America.
Each year, the Miami Beach Polo World Cup is produced by the event’s founding organizations, The Polo Life, LLC and ACT Productions, based in Miami Beach, owned by President and CEO, Bruce Orosz. For more information, visit www.miamipolo.com <http://www.miamipolo.com> or www.thepololife.com <http://www.thepololife.com>
Credits: Mitchell Zachs & ESPR
