SOTOGRANDE, A POLO WORLD SHOWCASE
Santa María Polo Club is preparing for the great Land Rover International Polo Tournament in Sotogrande. This edition is expected to be the greatest ever of the whole history of the tournament, with the best teams of the world, with more commercial and entertainment activities than any other edition.
The tournament will begin on July 25 in the fields known as Los Pinos , where you can enjoy a unique spectacle involving 5 of the best players in the world , attracting fans of polo from all over the world wherever they go .
MECCA WORLD POLO
In this 43rd edition there will participate 12 teams in the high handicap, 14 teams in the medium handicap and 6 in the low handicap, from 17 different countries.
This team increase is because the rise of handicap to 22 goals to the highest level of the competition (high handicap) and the exceptional quality of the facilities. This puts Santa María Polo Club, as an international leader in this sport and polo capital of the world, along with the UK, the U.S. and Argentina.
FIVE TOP TEN PLAYERS
The Gold Cup totaling 120 points of the world polo ranking for players, as well as 80 points in The Silver Cup attract the best players of this unique sport.
Adolfo Cambiaso , arguably the greatest player of all time, has returned last November to the first position of the world ranking followed by Facundo Pieres, the only player able to fight for their leadership last season . Both are considered the major international stars of the sport, where they show their skill, power and technique on the field.
This year, will also return to Juan Martin Nero with Lechuza Caracas and David Stirling, 3rd and 4th respectively in the world ranking . Stirling grew up playing in Santa María Polo Club, and this season will be playing for Ayala Polo Club with his younger brother, Santiago, who has won the Gold Cup three times in the last five years.
Gonzalo Pieres will play with his brother Facundo for Ellertson .
The presence of these stars of the world of polo with 10 goal handicaps, the highest possible handicap for a player, guaranties a unique sporting event, which expects a significant increase in the number of visitors this summer at the Santa María Polo Club.
THE SPANIARDS
Within the Spanish players, there is a young generation of players which are doing very well nationally and internationally. Outstanding among all the Spanish players is Pelayo Berazadi, awarded this spring in DUBAI as revelation Player of the season, Pascual Sainz de Vicuña playing for Dos Lunas, Luis Domecq , son of past professional player Nacho Domecq, who last year performed exceptionally well alongside Adolfo Cambiaso, which gave a boost to his career. Young players to shine in a sport dominated by the great Argentine stars.
THE BEST TEAMS IN THE WORLD, THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OF POLO
The success of last season with teams record, will be consolidated in this 2014.Twelve teams will be part of the Land Rover International Polo Tournament , between those teams you can find Ellertson of the Australian patron James Packer, Lechuza Caracas of the Venezuelan Victor Vargas , Las Monjitas of the Colombian Camilo Bautista , Mansour of the American Ben Soleimani , Halcyon Gallery of the English Charile Hanbury , HB Polo with the French Pailloncy brothers , Ayala Polo of the Spanish- Filipine Iñigo Zobel, Dos Lunas of the Spanish Alvaro Sainz de Vicuña, Scapa of the Belgian Michael Reding and La Indiana of the English Michael Bickford.
All of them must be added to the American business man Bob Jornayvaz , Valiente team owner, with Cambiaso as team leader, has occupied the eleventh place in the race of the World Polo Tour being an amateur player.
A fight of titans and business men of the game of polo. Hardly a European tournament can gather together in such a short time so many stars of world polo. Santa María Polo Club will have that privilege this season and the polo enthusiasts will be pleased to see.
MEDIUM HANDICAP
The sports offers an unbeatable season at the High Handicap, but also in the Medium handicap, which annually attracts more and better teams.
The Medium Handicap will also have teams from various countries, such as the English Equus, with Peter Silling as patron, champions of the last Gold Cup , the French Saint Mesme , the Russians of Seven Sevens and Irish’s Silex and Woodchester .
They will be a total of 14 teams that will take part in the Medium handicap, as every year the will play on the Rio fields and the finals in Los Pinos.
MORE LEISURE AND OFFER OPENING DAILY
The Land Rover International Polo Tournament arrives with new entertainment offer this summer, opening its main facilities every day of the summer, from July 25 to August 31.
The Entrecancha III- IV, will have the usual “Shopping Village” and new interior pop up stores. A new restaurant will be opened by Sodexo Prestige, the official catering for the tournament , they have operated successfully in other major sporting events such as Ascot Horseracing, Roland Garros, Madrid Tennis Open or The London Olympics .
The Entrecancha II- III will inaugurate a new commercial area with more shopping areas with new brands that will be for the first time in Sotogrande. And when the polo matches finish, “After Sotogrande Polo” an exclusive evening meeting point with the sponsor of Bacardi Group.
INCREASE ECONOMIC IMPACT
Santa Maria Polo Club, this month begins the preparation and management of the fields to be played on for the more than 136 players, 1,200 horses and about 500 employees are estimated to be required for this edition.
The tournament creates a considerable increase of the economic activity in the area of San Roque and Sotogrande. This event is considered one of the top 4 tournaments in the world; this year economic impact is expected to be around 25 million euro. Also in addition to a media return to the area as tourist destination worth over 16 million euros.
Santa María Polo Club has managed to consolidate as a benchmark for high quality tourism attracting an audience of visitors with one of the largest per capita consumption of Spain. Besides this the event gathers during August at Santa Maria Polo Club many personalities of the world of business worldwide.
In addition, the activity generated by all sponsors, there is no doubt that the international tournament is a real economic boost for San Roque and Guadiaro Valley .
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
You must add the promotion involvingin this event to Sotogrande. With international television broadcasts throughout Europe and live coverage for ESPN, whose production teams come over to Sotogrande for their live coverage for all Latin America and the U.S.A, this luxury residential area becomes the center of attention for more than 90 million households. This numbers are exceptional for a sport which is not considered with massive followers.
This year there is an increase request for media accreditation such as English medias and other international media from the Netherlands, Russia, Germany and Argentina who wish to cover the event.
A GREAT FUTURE AHEAD
Santa Maria Polo Club is promoting a unique real estate and leisure project in Southern Europe. By creating high level residential area with luxury Villas, and a high class hotel, aiming to create a permanent residence for foreign patrons of international polo and their teams, which would certainly be a strong economic incentive for the whole region. This project would be the starting point of an “Equestrian District” for the development of polo clubs and horse riding activities, in addition to existing ones, generating an ongoing activity in the area around the equestrian world and an increase of wealth and employment. This area is perfect for the creation of a district as in the Wellington area in Florida (USA) or Pilar in Argentina.
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