The XII FIP World Polo Championship

Argentina, Australia, Italy, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain, Uruguay and USA took part in The XII FIP World Polo Championship which was hosted by USA and saw the USPA-owned, National Polo Center – Wellington (NPC) in Wellington, Florida, take centre stage and the return of the prestigious international tournament to American soil after a 24 year hiatus.

J5 Equestrian provided eight evenlymatched strings of 22 horses for the teams before the tournament matches began in order to allow each team time to get to know their ponies.

Going into the Final both Spain and USA had three wins and one loss apiece so the outcome was anyone’s guess, with a packed grandstand on the immaculate U.S. Polo Assn. Field One.

Spain gained early momentum with a Penalty 1 automatic goal, but USA siblings Hope and Agustin Arellano combined forces to score; Hope made history as the first woman to play for USA in a FIP World Polo Championship Final. USA’s Lucas Escobar managed to get to goal twice in the second chukka, while his brother Nico made the most of Spain’s mistakes and converted two penalty opportunities and Agustin Arellano added another goal to just one in reply from Spain’s Pelayo Berazadi Rózpide.

The third chukka saw Spain find their groove and Rózpide and Guiñazú combined for two goals each, while simultaneously doubling down on their defence which limited USA to just two goals from Nico Escobar and meant that by half-time USA only led by one goal, 8-7. The fourth chukka saw intense play from both sides but their enthusiasm interfered with their accuracy and each side only scored one goal each, 9-8. The fifth chukka should have been the last, but a series of mistakes from USA turned into game-changing opportunities for Spain and a 10-10 deadlock forced the Final into overtime. Both teams fiercely fought to try and get the winning goal, but in the end it was a foul from USA which gave Spain their opportunity to convert the winning goal to claim their first FIP World Polo Championship, 11-10.

29 OCT

6FINAL NOV

Where: National Polo Center, Florida

The competition between the two teams was fierce in the over-time Final

Spain Secures First FIP World

XII FIP World Polo Championship Previous Winners

1987: Argentina 1989: USA 1992: Argentina 1995: Brazil 1998: Argentina 2001: Brazil 2004: Brazil 2008: Chile 2011: Argentina 2015: Chile 2017: Argentina 2022: Spain

Photography by David Lominska Spain celebrate their XII FIP World Polo Championship win

XII FIP World Polo Championship Final Teams

Spain (12)

Nicolás Ruiz Guiñazu (2) Luis Domnecq Carrión (3) Pelayo Berazadi Rózpide (5) Nicolás Alvarez Cervera (2)

United States (14)

Agustín Arellano (3) Lucas Escobar (4) Nicolás Escobar (5) Hope Arellano (2)

Chukka scores: 2-1, 3-6, 7-8, 8-9, 10-10, 11-10 to Spain

Steve Dalton & Steve Evans

BPP MVP

J5 Matilde, played by Pelayo Berazadi Rózpide Pelayo Berazadi Rózpide

MVP Pelayo Berazadi Rózpide celebrates his golden goal which delivered Spain their first FIP World Polo Championship title

Polo Championship

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