Today, May 26th, the semifinals of the traditional date with the Italia Polo Challenge circuit will take the scene in the Galoppatoio in Villa Borghese. At 8.30 pm, Union and U.S. Polo Assn will enter the arena, while Harpa Italia HPE and Engel & Völkers are scheduled to be playing at 9.30 pm.

These are the matches resulting from the qualifying competitions played last night, in front of a large audience led by speaker Gianluca Magini.

In the first match Harpa Italia HPE (Fabrizio Facello, ITA, captain, hcp -1; Therence Cusmano, ITA, 1; Pedro F. Llorente, ARG, 5), scored a clear succes on U.S. Polo Assn (Stefano Giansanti, ITA, captain, 1; Fabrizio Murgolo, ITA, -1; Patricio Rattagan, ARG, 4) 8 to 5.5.

In the second one, however, a very uncertain challenge between Union (Massimo Giambarresi, ITA, captain, 0; Goffredo Cutinelli Rendina, ITA, 3; Paolo Grillini, ITA, 1) and Engel & Völkers (Davide Fioranelli, ITA, captain, -1; Angel Valdez, DOM, 2; Miguel Angel Marmol, ITA, 3) ended with 6-6 and the winner – Union - was decided with the draw.

The finals are scheduled on Saturday 27, also at 20.30. All matches are streamed on www.piazzadisiena.it.

Included among the events that enrich the programme of the CSIO di Piazza di Siena, Italia Polo Challenge makes a stop in Rome for the fourth year in a row, with the entertaining and spectacular Arena Polo formula. Three players per team are engaged on a smaller field, in a quadrangular format with a 4/6 handicap.

The Italia Polo Challenge is an itinerant circuit that stops in three attractive venues: Cortina d'Ampezzo with matches on snow, Villa Borghese in Rome and Arzachena on the Emerald Coast. With the patronage of FISE and the collaboration of the Federal Polo Department, the creator and driving force behind IPC is Argentinian player Patricio Rattagan.

Ph. ©Sport e Salute/Simone Ferraro