Team Ralph Lauren (L to R)-Michael Bickford, Jamie Morrison, Nacho Figueras and Ruki Baillieu) won their opening game in the 2014 St. Moritz Snow Polo World Cup.
(Photo by Tony Ramirez)
St. Moritz snow polo report from Ebe Sievwright:
The 30th World cup polo on snow got off to a flying start with a tightly contested game between Cartier (Jonathan Munro Ford, Max Charlton, Chris Hyde and Hissam Ali Hydor) the unspoken favorites and last year’s champions, and a newly formed Deutsche Bank (Karan Thapar, Ryan Pemble, Oliver Hipwood and Glen Gilmore), which was an amalgam of players from St. Moritz’s colorful past. Glen Gilmore the charismatic captain of the Australian national team opened up the score in the third minute of the first chukka with a very delicate Penalty 2 conversion against Cartier. This tentative lead held for the best part of the first chukka and served to warm the titleholders blood sufficiently to spur them into urgent action…enough so that newcomer Hissam Ali Hyder, found himself at the center of all sorts of scrapes. Having adapted extremely well after only one practice on the previous day he motored into the game with great alacrity but got himself hit on the head as well as almost breaking his wrist in a hook-off with nemesis to be Oli Hipwood. Hipwood himself had a rough moment as his horse tripped in the ever deepening snow but still managed to give Gilmore plenty of support at the back. It was a series of 30-yard penalties that made up the body of the scoring in this match with Hyde effortlessly tipping the ball through the posts and reaping the highest goal score of the game and Gilmour replying in kind and converting every one of the 30s that he was given. The second half of the game yielded more field goals with energetic bursts from Pemble, who scored two field goals in the second and third and 3rd. Hyder put one through in the 2nd. Hipwood and Charlton stayed silent on the scoreboard side of things but gave hard performances in both defense and attack. In the end it was Chris Hyde that managed to finish all of the Cartier combined efforts, scoring six of his team’s seven goals, and it was the seventh that counted and gave them the 7-6 winning edge over Deutsche Bank for the beautiful antique Engadin St. Moritz Trophy
Ralph Lauren 5, BMW 4
In possibly the coldest winds that this epic 30 year old Polo World Cup on Snow has ever known, Ralph Lauren (Michael Bickford, Jamie Morrison, Nacho Figueras and Ruki Baillieu) and BMW (Richard Davis, Johnny Good, Tarquin Southwell and John-Paul Clarkin) jostled for the Hotel Steffani trophy in the second game of day one.
In true competitive spirit the score stayed even throughout the game with neither side giving way and no clear sign of a winner. In a game that was low on fields goals not all the penalties were put through and both John-Paul Clarkin and Tarquin Southwell had their turns at missing, but two out of three scored wasn’t bad for Southwell and Ruki Baillieu made more than he missed. The most exciting moments of the match happened in the third chukka when a spectacular opportunity presented itself to John-Paul Clarkin when the ball bounced off the back of Ruki’s horse and Clarkin immediately poked it into the goal from 50-yards out. The brief lead was met by a field goal from Nacho Figueras, which saw him gallop from the halfway line and deftly usher in his team’s 4th goal.
The excitement abated there for the rest of the third and the game resorted back to fits and starts punctuated by numerous fouls. BMW held a lead from the penalties being the lesser of the two offenders until the dying seconds of the game when two quick penalties in favor of the Ralph Lauren team put them not only back on the map but on the higher step of the podium. Ruki’s last penalty was taken with two seconds to spare and the 5-4 Ralph Lauren victory.
Return Patron Michael Bickford had a good game although the deep snow proved troublesome for him and saw him come off on two occasions. Johnny Good lent heroic defense to the BMW team but in the end luck or perseverance saw Ralph Lauren lift that Steffani trophy, which also stands them in good stead for the rest of the tournament.
Tournament play continues on Friday with Ralph Lauren (1-0) playing Deutsche Bank (0-1) at 11am followed by a 2pm contest between Cartier (1-0) and BMW (0-1).