3, December 2009

Polo legend Gonzalo Pieres Jr, a 10 goal handicapper on three continents and currently the World Polo Tour No.1 ranked player, has signed an exclusive partnership with iconic watchmaker Rolex.

Gonzalo joins the select group of Rolex Testimonees – exceptional individuals who excel in their chosen sport – who all share Rolex’s philosophy: the constant pursuit of perfection. These include the world’s longest standing No 1 tennis player Roger Federer, golfers Phil Michelson and Loreno Ochoa, show jumper Rodrigo Pessoa and Three-Day Event rider Zara Phillips.

Commenting on the partnership, Gonzalo Pieres said, “It is a great honour to have been asked to become a Rolex Testimonee; my approach to life is to strive for perfection in everything I do and these principles are shared by the Rolex brand.”

He continued, “I have grown up watching Rolex Testimonees compete at the highest level in sporting events around the world and, like them, I have aspired to be considered the best in my chosen sport of polo. Becoming a Rolex Testimonee is not only a privilege but also recognition of what I have achieved in the sport.”

Jean-Noel Bioul, Co-Director Sponsoring at Rolex, said, “Gonzalo is the world’s No. 1 ranked polo player and this has been achieved by focus, dedication and a constant desire to improve. We are delighted that Gonzalo has joined the Rolex family and look forward to working with him over the coming years.”

26 year old Gonzalo Pieres Jr is the son of legendary polo player Gonzalo Pieres who won the Palermo Open with the Espadaña team on six occasions. Gonzalo has won major honours at the highest level of the game including, in the last 12 months, the Grand Slam Sotogrande Cup and Masters Series British Open and US Open, as well as the Argentine Open in 2008. He first played in the Argentine Open, arguably the finest polo tournament on the international stage in 1999, and has competed every year since. He is best known for playing for Ellerstina.

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1 August, 2009

The Revenge of the Open d’Argentine presented by Rolex.

For the first time outside of Argentina’s borders, a top-level professional polo game could be seen at Deauville this afternoon –  in “The Revenge” of the Open d’Argentine presented by Rolex. The world’s two best teams, which were both finalists of the last Open d’Argentine in Buenos Aires before 18,000 spectators in December 2008, were competing against each other once again. This “French revenge” finished by Ellerstina’s victory after a match in which neither of the two teams tried to spare the other.
This Deauville event did not assemble the same number of spectators as the final Buenos Aires matches – high level polo still stays a relatively unwellknown sport in Europe – but it was nevertheless able to arouse excitement among fans. More than 2,000 spectators came together around the “terrain Normandy” of the Racetrack of la Touques, and over 100 media followed the match, while fans in 102 countries were able to see the live transmission thanks to Eurosport. “It’s the first time that a polo match is broadcasted in so many countries” comments Philippe de Nicolay, the president of the Polo de Deauville. “I already got some feedback and it seems that the results are formidable. It’s a big step forward for polo… and this happened in Deauville!”
Whoever had believed the promise of an extraordinary match could not have been deceived as the score was so close that there were only ever a few goals difference between the two teams at all times, even though at first Ellerstina seemed to have taken the course of the game in its hand with Pablo McDonough’s first goal which was quickly followed by his fellow team players Juan-Martin Nero and Facundo Pieres: 3-0 ended to be the biggest gap in the score. Adolfo Cambiaso managed to save the team’s face in the first chukker with a penalty from a distance of 30 yards.
From then on until the end, the two teams competed neck and neck with incredible phases of quality, even though Lolo Castagnola’s injury in the second chukker lead to his replacement by  Guillermo Terrera (who unlike the rest of the players is a handicap 7). Thankfully Castagnola’s injury was not too bad (he overstretched his thumb) but thanks to this incident Deauville’s audience was able to discover or re-discover the talent of young Terrera, who played in the La Dolfina team for the first time and seemed to be aware of this twist of destiny as he showed several beautiful solo actions during the match, for which he finally received the distinction of “most valuable player”. “He’s a good friend of the team”, assures Adolfo Cambiaso “and he was a great replacement. In any way thanks to him we were able to stay on Ellerstina’s level and in the end this match stayed in the line of oppositions of our two teams.  The game today was quite a tough battle.” Terrera was also the cause of today’s second big shock when he ripped the left goalpost out of the field during the fourth chukker (and yet managed to stay on his horse) – but this spectacular accident caused more fear than pain.
Thanks to the two goals that were achieved in the final chukker of the game, Ellerstina was able to confirm its title of the Argentinean Open and Facundo Pieres didn’t hold back his excitement about a job well done: “You have seen a very tight match. I think it was a pleasure to watch it with just a few errors and therefore almost no interruptions except for Lolo’s accident, which fortunately didn’t end too badly. I think it was an incredible day for polo.  It has given us confidence for the Argentinean season that’s to come… I think that we are going to win the title again next December!!!”. All this said with the uttermost seriousness.
A celebration for polo and a beautiful day for Patrick Guerrand-Hermès, president of the International Polo Federation: “An achieved dream. Although the conditions were not exactly great with the rainy weather at the beginning of the game - and yet we saw an excellent match. Afterwards the players came to ask how the game had been perceived by the audience which proves that each of them had the desire to show how great this sport is. This match was magnificent and unforgettable.”

Ellerstina Etiqueta Negra: Facundo Pieres 10 (3 goals, 2 of which were penalties), Gonzalito Pieres 10 (3 goals), Pablo Mac Donough 10 (4 goals) et Juan Martín Nero 10 (1 goal)
La Dolfina Peugeot: Adolfo Cambiaso 10 (2 goals one of which was a penalty), Lucas Monteverde 10 (3 goals one of which penalty), Mariano Aguerre 10 (3 goals) et Bartolomé Castagnola 10 replaced by A. Terrera in 2nd chukker (2 goals)
Ellerstina – La Dolfina : 3-1 ; 4-3 ; 5-5 ; 8-6 ; 9-9 ; 11-9
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For further information:
Pascal Renauldon  Tel: +33 (344) 620 621
R&B Presse      email: p.renauldon@rbpresse.com
Photo R&B Press/Adrien Renauldon, The Revenge Polo de Deauville : Elerstina Winning Team