he classification It was implemented several years ago in Triple crown Follower pole It has sparked controversy since its inception. The system is the one he chose Argentine Polo Association (August) l Determine who will star in the Hurlingham, Tortugas and Palermo Open series next season. Ten groupswith them 40 playersstar at those points racing ones The first seven places guarantee participation, Eighth result in a playoff game Against the House of Representatives Cup champion Eliminate the last two For its occupants. The alternative left for them is to fight for only a place in the Argentine Open in the following year’s classification, which provides two places for maximum competition in the sport.
Initially, the standings awarded points based on a team’s victories. But at the end of the season, these members changed frequently, and many players were able to enter the trio of the most important tournaments in the world and benefit from the units gained by an organization formed with others. Then the criteria were modified: points were awarded to polo players, not teams. This didn’t work either.
Players who did not have any more connections than a good total of points that allowed them to be part of the Triple Crown Quadrant began to be called up. Comfort rather than harmony. interests rather than team spirit. Often this forced union lasted no more than one season. Thus, different groups followed one after another. Year after year we strive to achieve good results, even though good results do not guarantee a long life for these alliances.
Positions in the ranking
In the current season, many players’ criticisms focus on inequality Of the treatment between the less powerful teams in the Group of Eight and those that finally complete the ten for Palermo, which attacks with enthusiasm from the qualifying tournament. Place in names: The Cove, August sun, Los Machitos el Revigio and No hash for breeding and poloamong the first, and Zita Kazak and La Dolphina IIamong New arrivals. Some victories in previous competitions allowed them to start the final competition of the season with good support, while the latter started at zero, without points.
This weekend, if rain does not interfere, the Palermo Open finalists, the 2026 Triple Crown champions and the team that will advance to the playoffs will be determined. Four quartets will battle it out at the bottom of the standings. This Saturday at 2pm, Los Machitos and La Zeta will pass through Zone A, and on Sunday at the same time, La Ensenada and La Dolfina will pass through Zone B.
So neither Zeta nor Dolphina II, last In order with 2800 unitsif they win they will have to participate in a tie-break against each other to look forward to the aforementioned play-off (with La Aguada, the Chamber Cup champion), and the loser of that match will have no choice but to take the horses to the field and bring them back in the middle of the year if they want to take revenge and try to jump back to Palermo. The winner of that playoff will earn a spot in Hurlingham, Tortugas and Argentino. This is, as long as the lineups are maintained, because as said, the points, and with them the classification, belong to the players, not the teams. Those who will be empowered are individual polo players, not the groups they belong to or the clubs they represent.
Members AAP Board of Directorswhich was renovated last May, noticed the problem and are studying it. Sources from the ruling party are reliable Nation Which There will be changes in the method. An example of the aforementioned imbalance: a team could win two out of four matches at the Argentine Open and exit the Triple Crown for the following year, while another team, without victories in Palermo, makes it into the series in 2026.
Once La Zeta Cazac achieved the only victory so far (over Sol de Agosto 16-11 in the third date), David Stirling Situation analysis. “The points system must be reviewed and amended For next year, because For those who arrive from the rating this means a very big disadvantage. Other teams achieved good results in previous tournaments, I don’t know if it was surprising or not, but They actually got many more points compared to those who passed the classificationAs is our case. “We didn’t have that chance,” shot the Uruguayan, a ten-time Argentine Open champion.
Mariano Gonzalez (b.)A man from La Dolfina 2, who achieved his dream of playing in Palermo this year, after several failed attempts, said: Nation“It’s great for the winning teams to get points, but It seems a bit harsh to me for those who come from the classification. It happened this year that we got along with La Zeta Cazac in this way, and we won all the matches, but We enter Palermo without points. Then we start in inferior conditions compared to others. I would like to change something: that the teams that enter Palermo through the classification do so with the same number of points as the last team in the classification. “This way, at least, you can start on equal footing in the Open, and if you win a match or two, you can be in a good position,” said Becky, the son of Mariano Gonzalez, the coach of the quad, and grandson of Daniel Gonzalez, the Coronel Suarez and Santa Ana champion and one of the last remaining polo masters.
Nicholas Perezwho appeared as the creator of La Zeta, gave his take along the lines of “Pelón” Stirling and “Peke” González: “The points system is very unfair, especially for teams that come down the rankings. As for the area below the table, the system is bad. It is done very poorly, because Whoever qualifies to play in Palermo does not have the possibility of collecting points in previous tournaments Triple Crown, which the rest can do. Hence, they are at a disadvantage against those who have been competing for some time. I don’t agree with the system and I expect there will be changes. “That’s why we’re talking about this in advance,” Gonzalo and Facundo’s brother stood up.
In turn, Mariano Gonzalez, Pique’s father and former Triple Crown player, addressed another discrepancy in the draw. “In the case of La Zeta-Kazak and La Dolfina II, if they were given the results at the weekend, they would have to play a match between them to see which one would go to the replay. Whoever loses will be disqualified, and whoever wins will not be saved: he will have to play another match! This means that in addition to starting to play strongly in September, and repeating the horses to win the classification, he will have to play against the winner of the room, who has been resting for ten days,” he put a magnifying glass in relation to the calendar and the misfire, although He explained that his opinion was “influenced” by the son’s involvement and added: “It is not always easy to be objective in this situation.”
Of course, it is not easy to find a suitable alternative for everyone. “I don’t have a solution to the problem, however This system doesn’t seem fair to me and I don’t think it helps improve the players or the sport.. An open tournament with ten teams should be tried, the last two teams will go up and down according to the results of the tournament, and the winner and the other finalist will go up from the room. “Without classification,” suggested González, the hero of Palermo’s novel, two decades ago.
Several unexpected results at Hurlingham and the Tortugas, in an eventful season, revealed the standings. The Argentine Polo Federation is working so that those who qualify for the Palermo Championship do not suffer from unequal treatment.