Earlier this week, Argentina started the first-ever Women’s Polo World Cup. The much-awaited tournament is being seen as a marker of progress for women players as polo has always been considered a male-dominated sport.
Women’s teams from six countries—Argentina, the United States, England, Ireland, Brazil, and Italy—will compete in the world cup. The matches will be held at the grounds of the famed Campo Argentino del Polo, known as The Cathedral of Polo, located in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires.
Blaze Trends reported the six teams will be divided into two groups of three where they will play against each other. The two winning teams from each group will then go to the semifinals. Then the teams that win the semifinals will compete for the cup in the final game that is scheduled for April 16. Each match will be played in five rounds of four minutes and 30 seconds.
Argentina is hosting polo’s first-ever female World Cup. The event is seen as a culmination of years of growing opportunity in a game traditionally dominated by men https://t.co/Kdk7MeWGlR pic.twitter.com/QK4Mgwyjwk
— FJ Newman (@fj_newman) April 13, 2022
“Better first game” for Ireland in the Women’s debut Polo World Cup against Argentina – https://t.co/ZWTX6L0Et3 pic.twitter.com/j2gKZjUaVt
— Pynck Fashion (@InThePynck) April 10, 2022
The 1st Women’s Polo World Championship is starting now!
We cheer up all teams and look forward to the opening match Ireland-Argentina, tomorrow Saturday April 9th!https://t.co/Zeh5BRnSae#AbranCancha #ArgentinaPoloDay #playpolo #polobuenosaires @asocdepolo pic.twitter.com/r5f3C2OzIy
— Argentina Polo Day (@ARGPOLODAY) April 8, 2022
Good luck to the Irish women’s polo team playing in the first ever Women’s World Cup in Argentina!
https://t.co/7U4fntPxZh
— Louise Troy (@LouTroy81) April 8, 2022
Clara Cassino, Argentina’s top polo player, told Reuters, “In recent years, the growth of women’s polo has been so impressive. Each year it grows so much, more so for women’s polo than for the men.”
Azucena Uranga, who plays for Argentina’s women’s polo team, expressed her happiness at the ongoing world cup and hoped that in the future more women’s teams will participate in professional matches. She told Reuters, “It gives us our own place and an incredible opportunity, one that maybe we’ll only fully realise in a few years”.
As of now, polo is professionally played in 16 countries, even though 100 countries have membership in the Federation of International Polo.
