HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT

FIP Ambassador Vikram Rathore explains how the Achievers Polo Team has created history in Indian polo by winning the Indian Open Championship for the fifth consecutive year

The Indian Open Polo Championship played off 20 goals is the Indian Polo Association’s National Polo Championship and was played in the rst week of March in New Delhi. This tournament is one of the most prestigious and oldest polo tournaments, and the highest handicap tournament played in Asia. The rst edition was played in 1900; it was suspended during World War II, then, since being reinstated, it has been played every year and has witnessed the best Indian and international polo players striving to win this coveted trophy.

Achievers Polo Team playing as Sahara Warriors won the championship again this March. Sahara India has been associated with polo in India for over a decade, with the intent to promote and popularise this traditional Indian sport, which is so intricately woven within Indian heritage, culture and folklore. This year saw the Jindal Panther team of Naveen Jindal and Suján Indian Tigers led by Jaisal Singh participate beside Sahara Warriors. The tournament was played on a league basis with the top two teams making it to the nal.

Sahara Warriors came out victorious, defeating Jindal Panther in the nals with a score of 11-7. The Indian polo captain Shamsheer Ali was on re as he scored half a dozen goals – three of them in the rst chukka – to bring home the trophy for the fth consecutive year.

Achievers Polo Team is co-owned by Parul Rai from Delhi and myself. We have been elding teams in all tournaments in Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Mumbai for over 10 years, providing opportunities, exposure and high-quality imported horses and polo

The Only Other Team That Comes Close In Terms Of Performance And Results In India Is The Famous Jaipur Tigers Team

infrastructure to some of the future stars of Indian polo, including HH Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur, Kuldeep Singh Rathore, Siddhant Sharma, Vishwarupe Bajaj, Hurr Ali and Dino Dhankhar, to name a few.

We believe in an inclusive approach for the bene t of the sponsors, players and other stake holders in the larger interest of the sport. We have successfully created a template that includes sponsors spending money and having an opportunity to become associated with the sport by having a team that plays under their name. The sponsors do not own any horses or infrastructure, or hire any Indian or foreign players, as this is all done by us. For many years we have been bringing three to six polo horses over from the UK or Argentina, giving talented Indian players opportunities to play with us, get help with horses and improve, which bene ts the entire polo fraternity.

The Jaipur-based Achievers team set a record of sorts this season by winning 18 of the 24 tournaments played in India over the season, spanning from September to March and played at Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Mumbai. No other team in Indian polo history has had this success rate for ve years running. The team improved on its own record set last season, also winning the two other

Open tournaments – the Jaipur Open and the Northern India Open.

The only other team that comes close in terms of performance and results in India is the famous Jaipur Tigers team, led by His Late Highness Maharaja Sawai Man Singh of Jaipur in the 1932-33 polo season, which won most of the leading polo tournaments in India and the United Kingdom.

This year the team had Indian polo captain Shamsheer Ali, who was part of the Achievers team in most tournaments. The other main player was South African wizard Chris Mackenzie. Other prominent players included Daniel Otamendi, Siddhant Sharma, Kuldeep Rathore, Dhruvpal Godara, Hurr Ali, Himmat Bedla, Vishwarupe Bajaj and Dino Dhankhar.

The team is based at Mundota Fort and Palace, Jaipur, with its own polo grounds, practice arena, schooling arenas, 80 stables and over two dozen imported polo ponies from Argentina and England. Incidentally, Mundota Fort and Palace, Jaipur, is India’s only luxury heritage polo resort, offering polo training and coaching facilities with in-house professionals throughout the year (mundotapalace.com).

Our mantra for the team’s consecutive success? Team strategy and the chosen players’ hunger to excel, give 100 per cent and win is the secret behind the resounding success of this team.

WE KNOW THE CHALLENGE IS TO MAKE POLO MORE VISIBLE, MORE APPROACHABLE AND CLOSER TO PEOPLE