The first two winners of the Barrière Deauville Polo Cup 2022 are known—the Luxembourg team Augustinus Bader for the Ladies Cup and Barrière for the venerable Silver Cup.
On the women’s part, this final was a remake of the tournament’s opening game, with the same opponents and same exact verdict of 8 to 4.5.
Augustinus Bader’s lineup included Paloma Lauro, Aurélie Molitor, Anais Rezkallah, and Lia Salvo. Opposing team Groupe GCA recruited Marion Ambrosetti, Lila Guérin, Alicia Prat, and Maru Gimenez.
Led by Lia, Augustinus Bader already held all the information to overcome GCA Group. The latter’s game is very physical, yet the Luxembourg team decided to play it differently. Thanks to their strong horse string, they were able to play a game of small passes. They also escaped from the pack, thanks to the speed and handling ability of their ponies.
This was the second title for Lia, who’s already a winner in Deauville in 2018. She was nominated Most Valuable Player of the final and the tournament. But a game is never won alone, and one of Lia’s strengths is to use the best qualities of her teammates. Their plan revealed the talent of the young 15-year-old Paloma Lauro, who was very efficient in the attack.
The other final of the day, the Silver Cup, offered the public some great battles. There are also spectacular and fast actions, an open play, and a great show. In short: great polo.
Barrière’s team included Isabelle Larenaudie, Ramiro Zavaleta, Martin Aguerre Jr., and Simon Zavaleta. Team Mungo, on the other hand, has Ulysse Eisensteter, Juan Cruz Greguoli, Pierre-Henri N’Goumou, and Tete Storni.
Martin, who substituted for Juan-Gris Zavaleta, quickly found his bearings with the Zavalata brothers. After being noticeably dominated at the beginning of the game, Barriere took the scoreboard from the second chukker to finish the fourth with a comfortable lead of 8 to 4.5. That’s when Mungo, in the fifth, began a stunning remontada. Yet, they ended up missing victory by just half a goal.
It was a great start for Isabelle Larenaudie, who played at this level for the first time! She even scored a goal, which turned out to be important for the final score of 8 to 7.5. Pierre-Henri received the MVP honors while his horse Silver Is Gold, won the best playing pony award.
