After intense rain all morning, the teams finally played in the dry, under a radiant sun even, and in the dream setting of the Gstaad mountains on a field in excellent condition. Two intense and competitive games and for a good reason: it was the semi-finals of the Hublot Polo Gold Cup. In the end, the two winners of Thursday’s games came out on top once again and will face each other in Sunday’s final: Clinique La Prairie and Kielder Agro Uruguay.

Gstaad is renowned for its prestigious sporting and cultural events. One of these events is particularly special: the Hublot Polo Gold Cup. Every year in August, sixteen of the world’s best polo players and their one hundred and twenty horses climb to the famous glamorous alpine resort to compete in this highly coveted tournament in a unique setting during their season. An enchanting event.

The Saanen airport was chosen as the venue for this event because of the flat space it offers in the middle of the mountains. For four days, the grassy area around the runway is transformed into a competition field, which the eyes of the polo world are focused on. But this sport is not only for the initiated: it is spectacular, easy to follow and fascinating. The horses’ beauty amazes, the skill of the players leaves one speechless. And the public quickly becomes passionate and takes up the cause of one of the four teams that battle it out on the field. Six games in all, two per day, on Thursday 18th, Saturday 20th and the final on Sunday 21st.

After the games, life doesn’t stop: you can visit the village with its magnificent stands, have something to eat, meet the players and a huge playground awaits the younger ones.

From 18 August onwards, the Hublot Polo Gold Cup will certainly be the Alpine event not to be missed.

Winner of the HUBLOT POLO GOLD CUP in 2018, Zurich businessman Cedric Schweri returns to Gstaad for the eighth time with the intention of reclaiming the title he lost in 2019, the year of the last edition of the tournament. While renewing his confidence in the Brazilian Joao Novaes, this year he has called on an Argentine ace, Dario Musso, 44 years old, winner of the Gold Cup in Deauville as well as three times winner of the French Open in Chantilly, he also has three consecutive victories in St. Moritz, St. Tropez and one in the prestigious Copa Remonta Veterinaria in Buenos Aires… to name a few.


Of course, Dario was born into polo, in General Levalle, in the province of Cordoba. There, together with his father Jorge and his younger brother Claudio, he trains young horses in polo, “a family passion“, he emphasizes. His talent was soon spotted by professional players, such as Francisco Braun, who put him on the circuit, especially in Europe where he was pushed by Patrick Guerrand-Hermés and really began his international career in 1995 at the Chantilly Polo Club after a first tournament in Colombia in 1994. From there, he travelled to tournaments in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Spain (where he started his 2022 season), Germany, India, China and played ten seasons in Thailand: “In fact, I only never went to the United States and England, but thanks to polo, I was able to make all these other great trips.”
 
Playing all over the world requires an enormous amount of organization, especially when you need to have good horses: “It starts at home, in Levalle, with our breeding. Three people are in charge of breaking in the young horses, then we train them ourselves. We then select the horses for sale and those that are suitable for me to play. We have about 100 horses in Argentina. The best ones are sent to Europe: at the moment, we have sixteen here, so I always have at least six or eight very good ones to play with!”
 
With Dario, Cedric Schweri is doing a “good deal”, because the Argentinean, who has been a 7 goaler*, is now a 5 goaler as he had not been able to play before Covid due to two big leg fractures: “But the pandemic has allowed me to recover and I think I am getting back to my best level of play.” Twenty-four years later, he will therefore be back in Gstaad for the second time in his career: “It’s a beautiful place, the tournament is always very competitive, there are always big teams.” The truth is that it was Joao Novaes who asked him to join Cedric Schweri’s GSTAAD PALACE team this year: “I already had the opportunity to play against them in St. Moritz and St. Tropez, I have a good feeling with them and I’m convinced that the team will perform well, everyone should find their position and Tomas Astelarra, the fourth man, is a very good player. So yes, we come to Gstaad with motivation and I hope we will have a good tournament. Winning? Yes, that’s our goal. We have to reach the final first and I hope that that is what will happen on Sunday.”


The first game of the HUBLOT POLO GOLD CUP will be played on Thursday, August 18th at 1:30 pm, the second at 3:00 pm. The second day will be dedicated to the parade of the teams through the streets of Gstaad, a magnificent meeting of polo and Swiss mountain traditions. Same schedule as Thursday for the semi-finals on Saturday while the final will be played on Sunday at 3:00 pm after the game for the third place. The village will open its doors each day at 11:00 am.

 
* The handicap corresponds to the level of the polo player (it varies between -2 and +10). The handicap evolves according to the performance of the player during the games and the progress recorded during the year. The highest handicap in Europe is 7 (England). The very rare handicap 10 is currently held by 9 Argentinians and one Uruguayan.

Toute l’équipe du Polo Club de Gstaad est en pleine préparation de notre prochain tournoi.
 
Nous venons de terminer la réfection totale de notre terrain afin de l’aplanir et d’avoir une herbe résistante prête pour l’année prochaine.

Les quatre teams qui joueront à Gstaad l’été prochain sont déjà confirmés! Cédric SCHWERI – Marco ELSER – Sebastien LEPAGE – Fabio & Luca MEIER

Nous nous réjouissons de vous accueillir du 18 au 21 aout 2022.



The entire Gstaad Polo Club team is in full preparation for our next tournament.
 
We have just finished the total renovation of our field in order to smooth it out and to have a resistant grass ready for next year.

The four teams that will play in Gstaad next summer are already confirmed! Cédric SCHWERI – Marco ELSER – Sebastien LEPAGE – Fabio & Luca MEIER

We are looking forward to welcoming you from August 18th to 21st, 2022.