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good fortune Polo is enjoying a huge increase in popularity in China, as Mark Tomlinson discovered when competing in the Fortune Heights Super Nations Cup in Tianjin As soon as you drive through the main entrance to the Fortune Heights development you are struck by the enormity of the apartment towers of the same name. Several huge structures containing luxury homes create an impressive skyline on the outskirts of the city of Tianjin, only very recently completed and primed for market. At the centre of this huge development is the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club Hotel, with the polo field right on its front doorstep. The hotel is five-star in every way and the wall of marquee-style corporate boxes, which run along one side of the main field, creates a chic scene. Then there is the equestrian centre, consisting of four or five purpose-built barns to stable almost 250 horses, providing both a luxurious and practical facility. It also boasts
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a Martin Collins arena and an all-weather track, not to mention the perfect summer temperatures for polo. The man behind it all, Pan Su Tong, really has created a first-class polo set-up which compares with the world’s finest clubs and offers extensive facilities, all created in only two years. The Fortune Heights Super Nations Cup tournament itself is highly competitive. Four 24-goal teams playing for their country is a recipe for good polo in any environment – add in decent prize money and you get some pretty fierce sport. Unfortunately, the ground was not quite up to the standard of everything else and the playing surface itself was treacherous. However, this didn’t deter the players from playing hard and merely added to the entertainment as the crowd was treated to a total of eight falls in
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four matches, with graphic replays shown over and over on the large screens. The factor that probably most concerned the players and organisers in the run-up to the tournament was the horses, but to give credit where credit is due, the level was not bad at all. The club organisers have clearly been under strict instructions to source suitable stock and a lot of effort was put into this. While they could have perhaps been given a better preparation, the fact that some 120 horses were made available for 24-goal polo is a huge achievement in itself. As the Chinese are new to polo, at least in the modern era, they have brought in international polo expertise. Not only have horses been acquired from all corners of the globe, whether it be NZ or the UK, but they have also enlisted
