PONYLINES POLO NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
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^ MASHOMACK POLO CHALLENGE On 16 June, The Mashomack Polo Club in New York hosted the 15th annual Mashomack International Polo Challenge luncheon. Over 700 guests watched teams from the United States, India and Italy battle to secure the trophy. This year, MPIC had the honour of hosting His Highness The Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur. Despite closely contested games, the winners, Team Carlyle, proved to everyone that their combination of great offence from James McBride and Bruce Colley and the indestructible defence of their back, John Klopp, was impossible to beat. During the Nespresso awards ceremony, the Best Playing Pony award was presented to Parker Thorne’s Bambina, while Catherine Malandrino presented the Mathias Guerrand-Hermès MVP Award to Shane Finemore.
^ ENGEL & VOELKERS BERLIN MAIFELD CUP On 11-12 August world-class polo found its way back to the Maifeld ground in the Olympic Park, Berlin, for the Engel & Voelkers Berlin Maifeld Cup. Under blue skies, eight international high-goal teams took the stage before more than 20,000 spectators. In the finals the defending champions Engel & Voelkers were able to recapture the title in a breathtaking game against Champagne Lanson with a final score of 8-6. Team Engel & Voelkers featured three returning players from the previous year in team captain Christopher Kirsch (4), James Miller (1), Gastón Maíquez (6), and the newest member of the team and youngest player Lukas Sdrenka (1). In the runners-up cup, the Tom Tailor Trophy, the Samsung team emerged as the winner against the Land Rover team. The Most Valuable Player award went to Samsung’s Jo Schneider, who was one of the few players to have already played on the Maifeld in the early Nineties. Gastón Maíquez’s horse Extatica was crowned Best Playing Pony. The German high-goal Championship will return to the Maifeld in 2013.
hurlinghampolo.com
ENGEL & VOELKERS BERLIN MAIFIELD CUP /BERNHARD WILLROTH,
An African cannot understand the Englishman’s obsession with time, arguing that there is no reason to rush to do something today that can be done tomorrow. If the sun is shining, sit under the tree and enjoy the day. Perhaps the unreliable English weather is what has created this obsession and certainly this summer has been the worst in my memory. Amazingly, tournaments have in the main been completed without undue interruption. The new drainage at Guards has paid huge dividends for the club and Ambersham 1 at Cowdray probably saved the day for the Gold Cup. The Royal County of Berkshire suffered badly with cancelled tournaments due to waterlogged grounds and at Cirencester, whilst the new grounds beyond Peddington held up, Ivy Lodge was not helped by the rain which seemed to wait for the important games to start. Blessed with the best weekend so far this year, the Audi International at Guards produced two great games. In the morning, the new Young England (25 and under) team gave a great display of their abilities and reminded the selectors and established England players that there are others out there snapping at their heels. The Coronation Cup was as good a game as we have seen for many years against a very talented young South Africa but in the end the experience of the England team played its part and, level at 8 all with less than a minute to go, they managed to squeeze in a goal in the last 30 seconds. We have also assisted in putting a team together to play in Zimbabwe. Having hosted a schoolboy team last summer it is hoped that this will help to rebuild the relationship with Zimbabwe, which has somehow managed to keep their polo going in spite of the difficulties there. It would be wrong not to mention the Olympics, and one can only be impressed by the commitment, humility and sporting approach shown by the athletes. It was wonderful to see Laura Bechtolsheimer, who followed the England team to Chile and Chester, winning her team gold and individual bronze.
