Lausanne, Switzerland: Fans around the world have elected the exceptionally skillful María José Granatto (ARG) as winner of the Poligras Magic Skill Award for the incredible pass through her legs that she did during the Argentina-Canada match of the outstanding FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022!
Las Leonas’ number 10 scored 6439 points, just ahead of her teammate, goalkeeper Belén Succi (5974 pts). The South American duo precedes Eva de Goede (NED – 2635 points), Zhong Jiaqi (CHN – 1434 points) and Charlotte Stapenhorst (GER – 1404 points), who all showcased amazing skills as well!
“This award is very important because it is chosen by the people, who are always watching, encouraging and supporting us. The fact that they voted for me means a lot to me. It's a nice recognition”, María José Granatto said.
Commenting on the skill itself, she said: “It’s a skill that a hockey mate has been doing a lot during training sessions and we laughed about it, imagining we could do it one day during a match! I did it during training sessions too, but used to practicing it alone, not even in a one-on-one. I was encouraging myself to do it, but it was simply to challenge myself and go for it, without thinking too much about it.”
Adding a word for hockey fans in Argentina, the Odisha Best Player of the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022 said: “We felt their support at every moment during the World Cup. I think Argentina has that, which makes it unique, namely the support of its people. I want to thank them from the very bottom of my heart!”
The full video interview of María José Granatto is available here.
The Poligras Magic Skill Award is presented by FIH Global Partner Polytan. It invites all hockey fans worldwide to vote for their favourite skill – of the recently completed FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup, this time - from a shortlist of breathtaking moments!
The voting process opened on 19 July and closed on 26 July.
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