In April, the first women's polo world championship will be played in Buenos Aires

A milestone in polo will be marked this April 9 when the first women's world championship will begin under the tutelage of the International Polo Federation. The tournament will take place from 9 to 16 next month on the Argentinian polo field and will feature six teams. Argentina, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom and the United States. There will be two groups of three teams where they will play all against each other, then the first from each zone will face a semifinal with the second from the other to win the finalists.

In 1987, under the chairmanship of Don Marcos Uranga, the 14-goal men's World Cup organized by the International Polo Federation (IFJ) was held for the first time. The initial edition was also played in our country and the champion was Argentina, who today is the top winner of the tournament, with 5 titles. The members of that team that won the first cup were Diego Dodero, Martín Vidou, Esteban Panelo and Bautista Heguy.

35 years later, and with Delfín Uranga (son of Marcos) commanding the Argentine Polo Association (AAP), the women's polo shirt that is growing by leaps and bounds around the world, will mark a milestone in history. The tournament will help to visualize the players from all over the world who have had great growth in recent years.

Delfín Uranga, president of the (AAP), explained what the event will be like: “During the week of the women's polo world championship the idea is that the Argentinian field of Palermo will be a place for women. Many women who pioneered their sports or activities, such as Gabriela Sabatini, Luciana Aymar and Paula Pareto, will be invited to the tournament and the gastronomic walk that will be led by Narda Lepes and will feature bartender Inés De Los Santos.”

On the level of Argentine polo players Uranga commented: “The Argentine pole is growing. There are other nations, such as the United Kingdom or the United States, that are older in terms of what is women's polo, we are newer but we are growing a lot. There are good tournaments and more and more girls are getting closer to participating in the sport. Unlike men's polo, women's polo is still played in a more amateur way, it's not so much clubs but girls who get together to play and teams are assembled according to the level of the participants. The players have two different Handicaps, the global handicap where they compete with men and a separate handicap that is only for women.” Delfín is the father of Azucena, one of the members of the Argentine team that will represent us in the world cup.

The Argentine team will form with:

Paulina Vasquetto 1, Agustina Imaz 4, Azucena Uranga 5 and Fatima Balzano 6. Total: 16.

United States: Audry Persano 5, Erica Gandomcar 5, Lilian Laqurica 3 and Jenna Davis 3. Total: 16.

United Kingdom: Fran Towsend 1, Milly Hughes 3, Heloise Wilson Smith 6 and Emma Tomlinson 6. Total: 16.

Irlanda: Caroline Keeling 1, Siobhan Herbst 4, April Kent 4 e Inés Lalor 7. Total: 15.

Brazil: Eduarda Vilela Rosa Engler 3, Ana Claudia Marinho 3, Alice Hopp Meireles 3 and Lucia Junqueira Du Plessis 3. Total: 12.

Italy: Ginevra Camila Visconti 1, Alice Coria 3, Maria Vittoria Marchiorello 3 and Camila Rossi 5. Total: 12.

Television

The nine matches of the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN and Star Plus for Latin America; while the rest of the world will be able to access the matches via streaming, through the official AAP platform: live.aapolo.com