CHINA 17 TH SEPTEMBER 2011
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0800 009988 | www.barbour.com
Welcome Note Dear Guests, Welcome to the frontier of Polo! Every frontier has a pioneer and we are very grateful to Mr Xia Yang for his vision and persistence in pursuing the resurrection of Polo in China. It is his unwavering commitment to this sport that has made today possible. We are delighted to bring The British Polo Day to The Beijing International Open. It is an honour to be working with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports and be part of the only authorised international polo tournament supported by the government of China (in the form of both the General Administration of Sport of China and the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality). Polo has been played in China for centuries. The modern game as we know it was reborn by British Cavalry officers in the 19th Century who spread the game from Argentina to New Zealand. This event is testament to that: the A-Z of world polo and a celebration of the history and heritage of its origins. It is fitting that these four nations should be competing in a British Polo Day here in Beijing We have always believed that the horse is an international language and represents a Bridge between cultures. We could not say it better than Mr Xia when he says, “polo is a bridge and bond that enhances the relationships among nations. In the Tang Dynasty, the most prosperous period in ancient China, the famous Silk Road ran through Eurasia. Many Arabian people along the road came to China to play polo, so that polo boosted the exchange among nations along the road. In Chinese modern times, some diplomatic relationships were built through sports. As for governments, they also hope to strengthen the ties among nations through sports and culture. Now Beijing municipal government is striving to develop culture, tourism, sports and so on to forge a “world city”. So, there is a good chance, through the cooperation between Beijing International Polo Open and British Polo Day, to promote the Sino-UK exchange and create more business opportunities.” We hope you all have a great day.
The Committee of The British Polo Day
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In association with British Polo Day.
Walpole is the not-for-profit making organisation that furthers the interests of the British Luxury Industry by harnessing and sharing the collective knowledge, experience and resources of the membership. In partnership with over 170 of the most exemplary British luxury brands including Backes and Strauss, Church’s, Gleneagles, Guards Polo Club, Hackett London, Johnstons of Elgin, Quintessentially and Smythson and cultural bodies such as the V&A, Hurlingham Polo Association and the Royal Opera House. Our remit covers a range of activities including cross-industry networking, business development, Government lobbying and thought-leadership. Walpole continues to foster entrepreneurs and emerging talent with our Brands of Tomorrow and Crafted Mentorship programmes. For more information, please go to www.thewalpole.co.uk or call +44 207 873 3790
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Timetable
13:00 - Welcome Drinks 14:30 - Openning Ceremony 15:00 - Silver Cup & Afternoon Tea 16:00 - Gold Cup 17:30 - Presentations 18:30 - Great Wall Gala
Carriages at 21:30
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British Polo Day UAE 2011
Rules of Polo 1
The white player has the line, and at fair speed the blue player would be crossing the line without sufficient safety margin, resulting in a penalty against black.
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When travelling in the same direction the blue player may draw level with and then force him across the line and take possession of the ball without committing a dangerous foul.
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Two players riding for a ball from opposite directions in the open must both give way to the left and take the ball on their right or offside.
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Even at a far lesser angle the black player would still be crossing the line if he continues in that direction, and committing a dangerous foul.
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The blue player may move in parallel with the line and play a shot providing he can do so without interfering with the white’s mount or causing him to check back. If blue would cross the line to the dotted position it would be a foul.
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When two players are approaching a ball in the open from different directions, the player (blue), with the line of the ball on his offside, right hand side, has right of way.
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Tweed
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NEW ZEALAND
ARGENTINA
1. Simon James McDonald
(3)
Marcial Socas
(4)
2. George Gemmell
(1)
Francisco Lalor
(2)
3. Kit Brooks
(4)
Javier Herrera
(1)
4. Jared Thompson
(1)
Luis Eduardo Lalor
(5)
TOTAL
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TOTAL 12
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PIAGET CHINA
BRITISH EXILES
1. Xia Yang
(-1)
1. Stuart Wrigley
2. Wu Zhiwei
(0)
2. Eden Ormerod
3. Marcos Heguy
(10)
3. Jack Mann
4. Manuel Jose Guiraldes
(3)
4. Gaston Devrient
TOTAL 12
(0) (3)
(2) (5)
TOTAL 10
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Prince Harry at The British Polo Day Charity Cup The winners British Polo Day Dubai The teams British Polo Day Abu Dhabi
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THE SUNNY TIMES POLO CLUB Mr Xia Yang Founded the Sunny Times Polo Club in 2004. The first modern polo club in China: With a coverage of 16 hectares, the club is located at The Sunny Manor in Yanqing County only 60 kilometres North of Beijing CBD. This modern garden club is surrounded by mountains on three sides and a river. This unique environment provides a comfortable climate throughout the year and wonderful clean air. In spring, the mountain ice and snow melts, leaving rich greenery and in the summer the air is cooler, a great relief from the city centre. Sunny Times Polo Club is a beautiful place to spend your holiday, riding, meeting new friends and renewing old acquaintances, and hosting business meetings. The Club has skilled staff ready to meet your particular needs. "In the West, polo is said to be an aristocrats' sport," said the 42-year-old. "We don't have aristocrats in China, but we do have a lot of people who have become very rich very quickly. I want to encourage them to behave like gentlemen, and playing polo is part of that. Mr Xia, a former architect turned property developer, has ploughed 20 million Yuan (ÂŁ1.8 million) of his own money into establishing China's first polo club and has done everything he can to make Sunny Time feel like a gentleman's Club. The walls are lined with paintings, imported from Britain, of uniformed hussars and hunting scenes. Sitting in front of a roaring log fire, while a servant stood
close by topping up his tea cup at regular intervals, Mr Xia said he was drawn to polo by the romantic image of the sport. "When I saw Prince Charles playing polo on TV back in 1996, I thought he looked like a hero," he said. "I just thought it was a very cool sport. It made me think of how people must have been in ancient times, when swordsmen rode in China." In fact, polo has been played in China since the Han Dynasty at the beginning of the third century AD. It reached the height of its popularity 700 years ago, before declining during the Qing Dynasty - a 260 year-long period during which ordinary people were forbidden to own horses. It was still part of the National Games - China's annual sporting showcase - in the 1950's but disappeared during the political upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. Bringing back the glory days is part of Mr Xia's mission. He heads the Polo Committee of the Chinese Equestrian Association and wants to see the sport played as widely as possible, with a Chinese team able to take on the likes of England and Argentina. "If polo was an Olympic sport we'd have a team already," said Mr Xia, a reference to the way China spared no expense to make sure it topped the medals table at the Beijing Olympics. "But sports grow quickly in China and I think we'll have a national polo team soon." Every year The Sunny Times Polo Club hosts The Beijing International Open [www.bjopenpolo.com] and Beijing British Polo Day [www.britishpoloday.cn]
We brew Pale Ale, others brew pale imitations. 20
M
arston’s Pedigree is still brewed the best way known to Master Brewers; using Burton well water and the Union
system, maintained by our cooper, Mark, with a passion for the result. Whilst other breweries ‘Burtonise’ their water, we use water from the source. Marston’s – Proud of our Pedigree.
England has it… www.marstonspedigree.co.uk
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NEW ZEALAND The New Zealand Polo Association formed in 1890, one year after Captain Savile (Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General) presented a trophy to be “played for annually by the Polo clubs in New Zealand�. Still played for as the national club championship, the Savile Cup is one of the oldest sporting trophies in New Zealand. There are 19 polo clubs throughout the country, and 300 handicapped players. Each polo club is part of one of the three Regional Associations: Northern, Central and South Island. Most clubs have one or two polo grounds and play two or three times a week from November to the end of March. In the North Island the majority of games are six chukkas except at the lowest grades; the South Island play mainly four chukka matches. Apart from the Savile Tournament played in early February, the other main tournaments are the Dewar Cup played in December, the Northern Provincial and South Island Classic played in January, the Dom Perignon Open played in February and the Gould Cup played in the South Island in March. Simon James McDonald
(3)
George Gemmell
(1)
Kit Brooks
(4)
Jared Thompson
(1)
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ARGENTINA British settlers in the Argentine pampas started practising it during their free time. Among them, David Shennan is credited with having organized the first formal polo game of the country in 1875. The sport spread fast between the skillful gauchos and several clubs opened in the following years in the towns of Venado Tuerto, Cañada de Gómez, Quilmes, Flores and later (1888) Hurlingham. In 1892 The River Plate Polo Association was founded and constituted the basis for the current Asociación Argentina de Polo. In the Olympic Games held in Paris in 1924 a team composed by Juan Miles, Enrique Padilla, Juan Nelson, Arturo Kenny, G. Brooke Naylor and A. Peña obtained the gold medal; this also occurred in Berlín 1936 with players Manuel Andrada, Andrés Gazzotti, Roberto Cavanagh, Luis Duggan, Juan Nelson, Diego Cavanagh and Enrique Alberdi. From then on, the game spread powerfully across the country and Argentina is credited globally as the mecca of polo.
Marcial Socas
(4)
Francisco Lalor
(2)
Javier Herrera (1) Luis Eduardo Lalor
(5)
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We brew Pale Ale, others brew pale imitations. In 1952, Sydney Evershed the chairman of Marstons, Evershed and Thompson, announced "We are now marketing our best pale ale under the name Pedigree Pale Ale™, because it is descended from a long line of famous brews and is really a thoroughbred brew". A thoroughbred it is, Marston's Pedigree™ is still brewed the best way known to Master Brewer's using Burton well water, the unions system and with a passion for the result. Whilst other breweries Burtonise their water we use water from source, and we still have our cooper's who refit and replace our 264 Unions as they need it. We only use the finest English ingredients and have often used the same suppliers for generations, they like us are proud of their Pedigree. So whilst other brewers may use marketing gimmicks and logo's to sell their brands we at Marston's™ remain faithful to the words from 1899 that "cricketers to carry the colours of the firm to victory" which they have! Our recently renewed sponsorship of the English and Wales Cricket board in this successful Ashes winning year has resulted in even more people enjoying more pints of Pedigree™.
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Afternoon tea Plain Scones and Raisin Scones Walnut Chocolate Brownies Milk Tea Cake English Fruit Cake Raspberry Financier Mango Lamington Banana Bread Chocolate Chip Cookies Oatmeal Cookies Butter Cookies Cheese Sandwich Cucumber Sandwich Fresh Fruit
Champagne Reception by
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Piaget CHINA Piaget has always been involved in polo and it is no surprise to see them once again leading the field in the landscape of Chinese Polo. A sport, now more than ever, associated with luxury and the privilege of horse ownership. “Since my childhood days, I have always been fascinated by horses”, says Yves G. Piaget. “On the family farm in La Côte-aux-Fées, all we had was a draught horse, but it was already my favorite animal. We soon began gravitating around the world of polo, the sport of kings, a luxury hobby and a highly precise discipline. Its name carried prestigious connotations, since it involved an elite. We were exactly on target, in a world combining luxury and sport. What’s more, polo also matched our identity in technical terms. It’s a high-precision sport that calls for anticipating the next move, mastering time and displaying consistent elegance whether on the field or in the grandstands. This highly sophisticated world was definitely that of our clientele.”
Xia Yang
(-1)
Wu Zhiwei
(0)
Marcos Heguy
(10)
Manuel Jose Guiraldes
(3)
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A VERY BRITISH AFFAIR
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BRITISH EXILES In the 1850s, British tea planters discovered the game in Manipur (Munipoor) on the Burmese border with India. They founded the world’s first polo club at Silchar, west of Manipur. Other clubs followed and today the oldest in the world is the Calcutta Club which founded in 1862. Malta followed in 1868 because soldiers and naval officers stopped off there on their way home from India. In 1869, Edward “Chicken” Hartopp, of the 10th Hussars, read an account of the game in The Field magazine while stationed at Aldershot and, with fellow officers, organised the first game. Then known as “hockey on horseback,” it was played on a hastily-rolled Hounslow Heath where a shortlist of about 10 rules was also hastily assembled. But, it was John Watson (1856-1908), of the 13th Hussars, who formulated the first real rules of the game in India in the 1870s. He later formed the celebrated Freebooters team who won the first Westchester Cup match in 1886. He was a key player at the All Ireland Polo Club which was founded in 1872 by Horace Rochfort of Clogrenane, County Carlow. The first polo club in England was Monmouthshire, founded in 1872 by Captain Francis “Tip” Herbert (1845- 1922), of the 7th Lancers, at his brother’s estate at Clytha Park, near Abergavenny. Others, including Hurlingham, followed quickly. Handicaps were introduced by the USA in 1888 and by England and India in 1910.
Stuart Wrigley (0) Eden Ormerod (3) Jack Mann (2) Gaston Devrient
(5)
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T HE IN T ERC ONT I NE NTA L LO ND O N PARK LA NE .
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PR O U D S PONS O R OF BR ITIS H POLO D AY.
T he I nt er C ont i nent a l L ondon P a rk L a ne s t a nd s proud l y a t Nu mb er O ne P a rk L a ne, s u r rou nde d b y L ondon’s f i ne s t s hop s a nd f a mou s a t t r a c t ion s . We prov ide ou r g ue s t s w it h t he b e s t L ondon h a s t o of fer, but of cou r s e re a l lu x u r y now a d ay s i s more t h a n i mp e cc a ble s er v ice. S o we encou r a ge a l l ou r p e ople t o s h a re t hei r k now le d ge of L ondon w it h you s o t h a t you get more f rom you r s t ay w it h u s .
D o y o u l i v e a n I n t e r Con t i n e n t a l l i f e ?
P l ea s e ca l l u s on +44 (0) 20 7409 3131 O r vi s i t us on www. lond on. interc ontinental.c om
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History of the Game Polo is perhaps the oldest game in the world – having been played over 2500 years ago - and is truly international. The name polo is said to have been derived from the Tibetan word “pulu”, meaning ball.
Ancient Polo In 600 BC the first recorded game of polo took place between the Turkomans and Persians. The Turkomans won. Polo began as a training game for cavalry units, usually the king’s guard or other elite troops. To the warlike tribesmen, who played it with as many as 100 to a side, it was a miniature battle. Persian literature and art give us the richest accounts of polo in antiquity. Ferdowsi, the famed poet-historian, gives a number of accounts of royal polo tournaments in his 9th century epic, Shahnameh (the Epic of Kings). In the earliest account, Ferdowsi romanticizes an international match between Turanian force and the followers of Siyâvash, a legendary prince from the earliest centuries of the Empire. The game spread into North India. In fact Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the first Muslim Emperor of North India, actually died accidentally in 1210 playing polo.
From Persia, in medieval times polo spread to the Byzantines (who called it tzykanion), and after the Muslim conquests to the Ayyubid and Mameluke dynasties of Egypt and the Levant, whose elites favored it above all other sports. Notable sultans such as Saladin and Baybars were known to play it and encourage it in their court. Polo sticks were features on the Mameluke precursor to modern day playing cards. Polo was passed from Persia to other parts of Asia including the Indian subcontinent and China, where it was very popular during the Tang Dynasty and frequently depicted in paintings and statues. The Moguls were largely responsible for taking the game from Persia to the east and by the 16th century the Emperor Babur had established it in India. Polo was revived in Japan by the 8th Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751) and was played until early 20th century. It was the favourite sport of the last Shogun who surrendered power to the Emperor in 1868.
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Sir Winston Churchill Old Harrovian
Tang Dynasty painted pottery figurines playing polo (unearthed in Shaanxi Chang’an)
Modern Polo The modern game of polo, though formalized and popularized by the British, is derived from Manipur (now a state in India) when British tea planters discovered the game in Manipur (Munipoor) on the Burmese border with India and established the first polo club in the world at Silchar, west of Manipur in 1862. In 1869, Edward “Chicken” Hartopp, 10th Hussars, read an account of the game in The Field, while stationed at Aldershot, and, with brother officers, organised the first game known then as “hockey on horseback”- on a hastily-rolled Hounslow Heath against The 9th Lancers. The 1st Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards were quick to follow suit on grounds at Hounslow and in Richmond Park; and then on a small ground near Earl’s Court known as Lillie Bridge. The first polo club in England was Monmouthshire, founded by Capt. Francis “Tip” Herbert, 7th
Lancers, at his brother’s seat, Clytha Park, near Abergavenny in 1872. In 1875, the first official match in Argentina took place on 3rd September, where the game had been taken by English and Irish engineers and ranchers.
Prince Philip playing polo
SINGAPORE british polo day around the world As British Cavalry Officers travelled the four corners of the earth, they learnt to play and love polo, spreading the game from Argentina to Australia. Polo is thriving everywhere it is played. British Polo Day celebrates the heritage of the game in each country, reviving some of the old rivalries whilst bridging cultures, in a quintessentially British Day. Three unique polo events British Polo Day Singapore, 19 November 2011 British Polo Day India, Jodhpur 10/11 December 2011 British Polo Day Thailand 17 September 2012
www.britishpoloday.com
INDIA
thailand
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