Oak Brook Polo Draws Record Crowd For Match Against The Delhi Polo Club

Nearly 1,000 polo fans attended Sunday’s historic ”International Cup” match and to celebrate India’s Independence Day

This past Sunday, the Oak Brook Polo Club and the Village of Oak Brook welcomed the Delhi Polo Club from India for International Day on the Oak Brook polo grounds in Oak Brook, Illinois. Oak Brook Polo Club chairman, Michael Butler, escorted the team from their appearance in Waialua, Hawaii at the Hawaii Polo Club to Chicago last week where they practiced at Arranmore Polo Club in Oswego, Illinois and were honored with an Appreciation Dinner at the Drake Hotel in Oak Brook Saturday night. The Oak Brook Polo and Delhi Polo teams competed for the International Cup. The last time the Cup was played for was in 1986 against Prince Charles and his team from England in front of over 4,000 polo fans.

International Day kicked off with a 1:00 p.m. match between Hotels of Oak Brook versus Hinsdale Magazine. For Hotels of Oak Brook, upfront players were Samantha Falbe at 1, and Bob McMurtry at 2, who kept firing at goal. Clifton Yandel played defensively at the back number 4 position, with Philp Kampshoff working hard in the middle. For Hinsdale Magazine, Mimi Shirey was back in scoring mode at number 1, and Tony Sekera behind her at 2. Bob Soos played the pivot position at 3, with Chris Vangel working the back, and hitting some long drives up over the half way mark. Hotels of Oak Brook tried hard, and won many penalties, but couldn’t score off the penalty shots. Bob Soos gets the credit for the most runaway plays in that game, and best ride offs go to Chris Vangel this time. Hinsdale Magazine played well this outing, and deservedly won the game 4-1. Mimi Shirey received the MVP award, and her horse, “Gracey” was awarded Best Playing Pony.

For the featured 3:00pm match, the Delhi Polo Team included Deepak Udar at 1, Amit Sangwan at 2, Vikram Sodhi at 3, Matias Obregon at 4 and Major Vikram Rathore as the team’s alternate. Playing for the Oak Brook team was John Green in the front, Jason Wates at 2, Horacio Onetto playing the pivot 3, and Jim Drury looking after defense at 4. This was a good hit and run old school game of polo. The Delhi team did well on borrowed horses, and got into the swing of things very quickly. Matias Obregon worked hard feeding the ball up to goal scorers Deepak Udar and Amit Sangwan, while Vikram Sodhi played good defense trying to keep the Oak Brook team in check. Captain, Jim Drury, made a few breakaway plays to goal for Oak Brook. It was good to see Jason Wates back in the saddle after some recent injury time. Despite missing a few penalty shots, Horacio Onetto again showed off his horsemanship and stick and ball skills and managed to feed his team well with several shots towards goal. In the end, Oak Brook Polo Club defeated the Delhi Polo team 7-5. Amit Sangwan was awarded MVP, and Best Playing Pony went to “Catniss,” owned and trained by Horacio Onetto. An estimated crowd of 850 attended the fast and friendly match, Oak Brook’s largest this season, that showed off the good international relations polo has always enjoyed. The match was broadcasted live on Chukker.TV for a global audience and will be made available on-demand in the near future.

“It was interesting to see how many Indian supporters came to witness the historic match and cheer for the Delhi Polo team,” said Jim Pehta, co-chairman of the Oak Brook Polo Committee. “We’ve really been working hard to build polo back up these past few years; it’s still a signature item for Oak Brook, and having this team here from India made for a great day here.”

Oak Brook Polo Club’s next event, and final match of the season, will take place on Sunday, August 23^th beginning at 1:00 PM CDT (Gates Open at 12:00 PM) with British Day. Oak Brook Polo Club has a long tradition with British Polo teams.  In 1986, Prince Charles was a special guest, along with his British team, for a Royal Polo weekend.  The British team, with the Prince of Wales as Captain, won the coveted first-place silver cup. The Union Jack and American flags will be flying this August with plenty of red, white and blue to be seen.  Try the famous PIMMS Chukker drink….another Polo tradition from the Brits! For event information and to purchase tickets, visit www.oakbrookpoloclub.com.