Fortune Heights Snow Polo World Cup 2013
12 teams from around the world vie for the world championship
at Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club from Jan 25 – Feb 3
The Fortune Heights Snow Polo World Cup 2013 (“Snow Polo World Cup”) continued into the sixth day at Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club (“Metropolitan Polo Club”). Snow Polo World Cup is one of the major events on the world polo calendar, and is the largest snow polo tournament in the world. This is the second year running that Metropolitan Polo Club, the largest polo facility in China, has been chosen as the venue of this prestigious event. The tournament is hosted by the Equestrian Association of China and the Federation of International Polo (FIP), and is organized by the Tianjin Sports Bureau, the Hong Kong Polo Development and Promotion Federation (HKPDPF) and the Tianjin Polo Association, with support from various sponsors.
Twelve teams have been participating in this year’s tournament with handicaps ranging from 14 to 16 goals, making this the world’s premier snow polo event. The teams, selected in cooperation with the Federation of International Polo, represent 9 out of the top 10 polo countries. Countries represented at the start of the tournament were: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, England, France, Hong Kong, China, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. Eight of these teams passed through the qualifying rounds into the 2-day Quarter Finals, which concluded today.
Yesterday saw Hong Kong, China, last year’s tournament winner, defeating New Zealand on a tense penalty shootout after a 5 goal to 5 tie. England then scored a 2/7 decisive victory, 6 goals to 3 against Chile. Today, both of these Semi-Finalists watched intently from the elegant comfort of the viewing gallery, hoping to deepen their understanding of their upcoming opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. Along with the cheering crowds, they were treated to some of the most spectacular demonstrations of skill yet seen in the tournament, with South African player Tom De Bruin, and Argentine player Juan Ruiz Guiñazú in particular distinguishing themselves.
South Africa took a hard-fought, but decisive win against Canada. The first two chukkas were packed with action, long swings and team players galloping up and down field, but were low on goals. At the end of the second chukka the match was still very much undecided, at 2 goals to 1 in favor of South Africa. The third chukka was again full of action but light on goals, South Africa added 1 goal, and Canada looked almost certain to take 1 additional on a penalty shot, with the ball traveling fast and straight into the South Africa goal, only to see the ball knocked right back at them from out of mid-air by De Bruin. Continuing into the final chukka with excellent teamwork and tactical positioning, South Africa unleashed an onslaught, scoring 3 goals in succession. The match ended with a 6 goal to 2 win for South Africa. South Africa team manager Clive Peddle, acknowledging the skill of the Canadian team, ascribed today’s victory to strategy: “in these challenging snow conditions, we decided it was best to play a long-game, rather than keep the ball close-in, we kept to our strategy and it paid off for us”.
The final match of the Quarter Final saw Argentina play France. As in earlier matches, we saw Argentina demonstrate their full-on, forward-pressure style of play. Almost like 3 powerful magnets pulling towards a piece of iron, the Argentine players seemed drawn to their opponents’ goal posts. France handled the onslaught with a skill and a power of their own, letting in only a single goal during the first chukka, and then taking their only goal of the match in the second chukka. Towards the end of the second it looked like the effort to restrain Argentina had become too much, with Argentine power-3/7 player Dario Musso making two very nearly successful long charges against the French goals. It was in the third chukka that the crowds were treated to the most exciting play of the match. First, Dario Musso charged in and scored 29 seconds into the chukka. Then we saw teammate Guiñazú make a spectacular run, taking control of the ball on defensive play at the French goal line, and charging down the full length of the field, swinging forward on both sides as he galloped and finally placing solid strike into the French goal. Argentine team manager Santiago Gaztambide later commented: “this was our proudest moment of the tournament so far”. The match ended with a 5 goal to 1 win for Argentina. French team manager Philippe Perrier was disappointed to lose, but commented: “it is so exciting for us to be here in Tianjin, there is no other snow polo event in the world that provides such a global field of competition as this one” the French team will now return home, and will be looking forward to playing the final snow polo tournament of the European season in Cortina, Italy.
The Semi-Finals will be played on Saturday, 2nd February. The following matches will be played:-
Argentina vs. South Africa
England vs. Hong Kong, China
Daily polo matches are being contested as follows:
Qualifying
Friday, 25 Jan 2013
Result: England vs USA 4-2
Hong Kong, China vs Brazil 7-4 South Africa vs India 7-3 4/7
Saturday, 26 Jan 2013
Result: Argentina vs Canada 6-3
England vs New Zealand 2-4
Hong Kong, China vs Chile 2-3
Sunday, 27 Jan 2013
Result: South Africa vs France 4-3
Argentina vs Australia 3-2
USA vs New Zealand 1-4
Monday, 28 Jan 2013
Result: Brazil vs Chile 4-5
India vs France 2-5
Canada vs Australia 3-3 (Penalty 2:1)
Wednesday, 30 Jan 2013
Result: Quarter-Finals 1: New Zealand vs Hong Kong 5-5 (Penalty 2:3) Quarter-Finals 2: Chile vs England 3-6
Thursday, 31 Jan 2013
Result: Quarter-Finals 3: South Africa vs Canada 6-2 Quarter-Finals 4: Argentina vs France 5-1
Saturday, 2 Feb 2013
Semi-Finals 1: Argentina vs South Africa
Semi-Finals 2: England vs Hong Kong, China
Sunday, 3 Feb 2013
3rd Place Game
Final 5/7
Information on Fortune Heights Snow Polo World Cup 2013
Gate opens: 11.30am
Match Time: 1pm to 4pm
Address: 16 Hai Tai Hua Ke Ju Lu Bin Hai Gao Xin Qu, Tianjin 300384, China
Enquiry: (86) 22 2372 8877
Official website: snowpoloworldcup.com
Matches may be watched online at: http://www.hurlinghampolo.com/polo_videos.php