1st female French Open Chopard
September is the most important month in the Polo season of the Polo Club of the Chantilly Domain, hosting more than 600 horses for the six tournaments that take place until 16th September, including the prestigious French Open.
There will be tournaments for all levels (from beginners to juniors up to the elite) and for both genders of each level. The two Opens will obviously be the centre of attention, with the presence of some of the world¡¯s best ¨C male and female ¨C players.
French Open Kam¨¦lis Marrakech Polo Resort: eventually Bensadon?
The 12th (masculine) French Open, this year appearing in the colours of the Kam¨¦lis Marrakech Polo Resort has been launched last week-end. Nine teams are participating, including three former champions as well as the recent winner of the Silver Cup in Deauville. Mungo is a very interesting team as it is entirely European, consisting of two French players Patrick Eistenchteter and Thibault Guillemin, and the two British brothers Mark and Luke Tomlinson.
This French Open is a title that naturally also attracts the figurehead of the tournament, the Argentinean handicap 9, Pancho Bensadon. The last victory of Chantilly¡¯s top© eam In The Wings (without Pancho at this time) dates back to 2005, so Pancho has set the French Open as one of his goals for this polo season, the other important goal of course being the Argentinean Open.
This challenge of In The Wings will thus be of great interest in this 12th French Open, but the local team will have to defeat other ambitious participants from Germany (Tom Tailor which defeated In The Wings on Monday), Luxemburg or Switzerland as well as from different regions in France.
Female French Open Chopard: eight teams and eight represented countries!
This number of participating teams itself is already a success. This first ¡°ladies¡¯ Open¡± of international level attracted female players from Great Britain, Jamaica, Germany, Argentina, Ireland, Luxemburg, the United States and, of course, France. The female players now have their own handicaps and the audience will be particularly interested in the Argentinean handicap 8, Lia Salvo, who already made her mark in Chantilly by winning both the Ladies Polo Cups of Paris in 2011 and 2012. Together with her French teammate Lavinia Fabre and two German players they will form the team Centre Porsche Roissy. They too will have to take on rival candidates such as the team of the strong Briton Hazel Jackson (hf 7), or the French©American team with the French n¡ã1 Caroline Anier (hf 6) and the American Jessica Bailley (hf 4).
In short: a different kind of polo to discover from 5th September on, until the final on 16th September just before the male final.