Milly Hine lands third US Open Women’s Polo Championship win in a row
Victory/Eastern Hay pulled out all the stops in the finals of the US Open Women’s Polo Championship to take a 7-5 win over La Dolfina and given England’s Milly Hine her third tournament win in as many years at the National Polo Center.
“I don’t think we were the underdogs,” she said. “But we knew we had a lot of work to do – they [La Dolfina] have an incredible organization and an incredible string of horses and Hazel [Jackson] and I were coming in here without a home base of our own.”
Milly and fellow 10-goal player and compatriot Hazel steered the line up, supported by Rebecca Schmeits and Aspen Tinto under the coaching eye of Santi Wulff. They took on one of polo’s dynasty’s in the shape of La Dolfina, a largely Argentinian line up featuring Myla Cambiaso and Mia Cambiaso – both daughters of polo great, Adolfo Cambiaso – their cousin Mora Castagnola, and Micaela Saracco.
Sidelines’ support for Milly’s quest for a hat trick, included her father, former polo professional and England international, Andrew Hine. “We were nervous really the whole way through thinking that La Dolfina would come back,” he said of La Dolfina, who were kept at bay trailing 4-2 at halftime and were unable to narrow the lead in the second half. “But they didn’t. The girls held on.”
Milly’s mother Robyn was among her supporters as well as her professional polo playing brothers Ned and Louis. “We try to be there to support each other as much as we can,” said Louis after Victory/Eastern Hay’s semi final win against title holders, Buena Vibra. “I’m super proud of Milly and hopefully she can make it the third win in a row. It would be pretty amazing. She has worked so hard for this and she really deserves it.”
Horses, advice and strategy were gleaned from a variety of sources going into the tournament in general, and the final in particular. “We’ve been studying them [La Doflina] a lot,” Hazel said prior to taking the Sunday field. “They’re super well mounted and we’ve worked hard to get super well mounted. We’re speaking to every pro here in Wellington and I feel like we’re pretty well organized. I have a lot of faith in our team.”
The Best Playing Pony Award went to one of the horses that Milly had sourced locally for her Open string – Latia Bancada, owned by Pipe Vercellino. Hazel – claiming her third title in the tournament – was named Most Valuable Player. “It was super tough, so, so tough,” Hazel said of the final – it was clear from watching that they left it all on the field. “We worked for it. We worked so hard, but it was an incredible game.”
Rebecca ‘aka’ Becky was instrumental in bringing Victory/Eastern Hay to the tournament and was keen to express her respect for her teammates. “These girls work really hard at what they do and women’s polo doesn’t get a lot of attention or financial support from media, but it is really important,” she said. “The dynamic and the lifestyle and the commitment that these girls have to one another and the team commitment and loyalty to each other only makes us greater.”
This could be interesting: