SIAM POLO NEWS - Horse polo in Thailand at Siam Polo Park, VR Sports Club, Thai Polo Club, Polo Escape with Thailand Polo Association

SIAM POLO NEWS
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If you want to play polo, call MR DANG -- 081-813-6673 // Siam Polo Park is 15 minutes from Suvarnabhumi Bangkok Airport

11-16 AUG 2010 -- THAILAND GOING TO SINGAPORE POLO CLUB
The full force of the King Power Polo Team will be on the field in Singapore this August. Khun Gung and Khun Daniel have announced that Nicole is in charge of all logistics and assembling the team. Khun Gung has also informed us that TPA will begin an aggressive schedule of international polo appearances for the Thai Polo team. We will bring you more updates from this event as we receive them.

SEP 2010 -- THE GRAND OPENING OF THE CHINA POLO CLUB
The grand opening of the China Polo Club in anticipated for September 2010. Get ready for this one in Beijing. They are expecting to have some some public figures from China and overseas. We are told that his polo club is going to be the largest stadium in all of Asia. Let's wait and see.... Mark Godfrey reports: "Few people appreciate that China invented the stirrup. Much of the country’s traditions of horsemanship have died out since the days of the Tang Dynasty, thousands of years ago, when Chinese cavalries were the best in the world. Today there’s a resurgence of interest, as equestrian clubs open in major cities. Equuleus, in Beijing, gives lessons to wealthy Chinese and expats and at the weekend compete in national showjumping teams. But the real horsemen are to be found in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, where minority Mongols and Uyghur peoples produce some of the best riders and horses in the world." UPDATE -- It seems that in China, you are not allowed to use the word "China" in the name of your sports club, so the China Polo Club may actually be called the TianJin Metropolitan Club. They have 43 horses now in quarantine, which Nine Dragons helped them locate. Apparently, their Grand Opening is to be on 28 September, but one of our polo playing reps in China says that they do not yet have a field. They also do not have stadium seating, so there are many things to find out about the Grand Opening of the China Polo Club. Stay tuned....

7-8 AUG 2010 -- FRIENDLY MATCH IN KOREA
Our friend J.B. Lee has invited Singapore and Shanghai and Thailand to join a friendship polo tournament at his new polo club. This will be a low goal event with 4 chukkas a day. There is already a team coming from Singapore. The tournament will be for beginners and with a maximum handicap of 2 goals per team. For more information, email korea@siampolonews.com -- this date is unconfirmed pending confirmation of teams.

20 JUL -- FELIZ DIA DEL AMIGO
Ever since the Cabeza Grande has his new BlueBerry, he has been able to inform us of strategic events from all points of the globe. He recently reminded us all that 20 July is the official "Day of the Amigo" in Argentina. This is the day when you wish all your Amigos the best and say hello to them. Cabeza informs us that he is "moviendo las vacas" in Villa Dolores and that all is well. He also sent us a photo of Santiago Yanez doing some stick and ball in the kitchen without the wall.

JUL 2010 -- GUACHOS IN SWITZERLAND
We located the Bach-a-mann in Bern, Switzerland and found some other gauchos Manu and Agustin. The Bach-a-mann was teaching players in Bern for a month and then going to play a 15 goal tournament in St. Tropez, France. Manu is now the Cabeza Grande in St. Moritz, Switzerland. They have 6 horses there and not yet a field, but it is coming soon. It seems that it is difficult to get permission from the Swiss government to have official polo fields. The Bern field is separate from the clubhouse and the stables. Manu and his wife Caro are living in St. Moritz and he is giving lessons to some of the students at the nearby private school. The Bach-a-mann is very famous in Thailand for originating "La Signa del Gaucho" which is now recognized around the world and the official sign of La Asociacion de Los Gauchos Timidos. Bach-a-mann has recently accepted an appointment to the board of Directors at Argentina Polo.

POLO IN PHILIPPINES -- INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIE FIELD
We had a chat with Charlie Field and will be sharing some of his background in polo shortly. The Philippine Polo Season is from November to March. In Nov & Dec, Charlie is on the farm with the best field. In Jan & Feb, there are 10-12 goal tournaments (with 2 teams) and 4 goal tournaments (with 4-6 teams). The Tournament season is from January to March. March is usually 4-6 low goal tournaments. More info coming soon.

AUG 2010 -- KOREA INVITES CHINA TO PLAY A FRIENDLY MATCH
There may be only one Korean polo player, but this has not stopped JB Lee from inviting China polo players to come and play a friendly match at the Korea Polo Club in August 2010. Any Chinese players that wish to join this match -- www.koreapoloclub.com

KOREA DEFEATS INTERNATIONAL TEAM IN OPENING TOURNAMENT
Read the Report in English JEJU WEEKLY -- The opening weekend was a tremendous success for Korea Polo Club in Jeju, Korea. Surrounded by volcanoes this island paradise hosted the first ever polo game to be played in Korea in front of hundreds of VIPs and dignitaries. Mr. J.B. Lee was thrilled with the results of his hard work. Rain was falling on Friday and Saturday morning, but thanks to 30cm of North Korean sand and the hardiest grass (combination of Tifton and Perennial Rye that loves 15*-20*C) we have ever seen, the pitch was in perfect form for the opening game. H.E. Mr. Chua, The Singaporean Ambassador, was given the honor of getting the ball rolling as he threw it in, and the spectators were thrilled by some very high level polo. After Day one, the International team was leading by 1.5 goals. But on the second day, the Korean team was led by a ferocious charge by J.B. Lee scoring a hat-trick and taking the Koreans into the lead. It was a nail-biting finish, but our very own Campeon de La Vida -- Nicolas Pieroni -- helped carry the Korean team to victory. We will post photos soon. Congratulations to Korea Polo Club -- www.koreapoloclub.com -- and JB Lee for brininging polo to Korea. KOREAN TEAM: JB Lee, Alex de Lisle, Nicolas Pieroni, Rob Ballard. INTERNATIONAL TEAM: Marc Hogberg, Alex Vecinal, Mark Lillyman, Charlie Field.

KOREAN HORSE HISTORY
Upon further inspection, we discovered that Korea is a country rich in horse history. The white horse in the Korean Polo Club logo comes from the ChunMa Tomb in KyungJu (town). "ChunMa" means "horse from heaven" and inside of the tomb was found the ancient image of the white horse. This tomb is either for King SoJi or King JoJung and was built after the time of unification. Ancient Korea used to be divided into 3 kingdoms, and the Kingdom of Shilla in the Southeast was the kingdom that united the 3 kingdoms which then lasted another 500 years. The tomb has 12 animals around it and is a large mound of earth in S.E. Korea.

23 MAY 2010 -- 15 AMBASSADORS AT NUSANTARA FOR ARGENTINE INDEPENDENCE DAY
It may have been the largest assembly of Ambassadors for a polo match in the history of polo -- certainly polo in Asia. On 25 May 2010, Argentina celebrated it's 200th year of Independance. The Nusantara Polo Club celebrated with a grand exhibition match between the Indonesian National Team and an Argentina Team. There were 600 spectators on the side of the field, complete with a Tango show. The honored guest was the Argentina Ambassador, H.E. Javier Sanz de Urquiza, and there was a splendid Argentine Asado for all to enjoy. Khun Probowo took to the field to lead the Indonesian Team with 3 of the Indonesian National Team members. The Argentine Team was led by chief gaucho Nico Curto, and when the dust settled, it was Argentina that won the day 10-5 and lifted the Silver Cup -- which weighed 30 kilos!!!! Congratulations to Indonesia and Argentina for a splendid display of polo and a great celebration of Argentina's National Day. INDONESIA TEAM: Prabowo Subanto (-1) / Ac'ep Krisnanadar (o). Billy Barsel (1), Novel Momongan (2), Hary Syafar (1)/Agus Gombong (0). ARGENTINA TEAM: Lucio Benedit (2), Juan Benz (1), Mariano Curto (1), Nico Curto (4).

ELEPHANT POLO MOVING BACK TO HUA HIN
Chris Stafford has confirmed that the next Elephant Polo Tournament in Thailand will be held in Hua Hin. This next tournament will be in September 2011, so plenty of time for everyone to practice.

KING POWER FLAG ON SUMMIT OF MOUNT EVEREST
Siam Polo News has discovered that another high altitude polo stick test was recently conducted in Nepal. This time the team was exploring the effects that lack-of-oxygen has on polo players and the polo stick in particular. On the summit of Everest, there is 75% less oxygen then at sea level. This causes a deterioration of brain cells, and the polo player can completely forget his stick if he is not careful. The temperature ranges from -40*C to -100*C, depending on the wind, and this can have a very damaging effect on the player and the stick. Khun Top very kindly dispatched a King Power flag for the expedition to use to promote polo and Duty Free to all the Sherpas in the Khumbu Valley. The expedition also felt very badly about the 1/2 goal loss that King Power (captained by Gustavo Yanez) suffered against the Black Dog team for the last place position in the Gold Cup. The King Power flag proudly reached the top of Everest on 17 May 2010 at 10AM. This year, there were 6 deaths on Everest and 12 climbers lost most or all of their fingers to frostbite. The expedition determined that polo is not feasible anywhere above 26,000 feet due to the low levels of oxygen, and that the loss of fingers due to frostbite makes holding the polo stick extremely difficult. Siam Polo News apologizes for the lack of updates during the two month expedition.

12-13 JUN 2010 -- FIRST POLO TOURNAMENT IN KOREA
Our friend J.B. Lee opened his polo in Jeju, Korea in early May 2010, he has organized a very small opening match on 12-13 June with 2 teams and 4 chukkas per day. He is expecting about 100 guests. This is the very first polo club in Korea, and we are very honored to have had J.B. Lee playing with us in Thailand in the Ambassador's Club. If Korea can produce quality polo players like J.B., then we all should be worried. We wish Korea Polo Club great luck and we all look forward to seeing the club grow and members join us in friendly matches. Please visit the club webpage -- www.koreapoloclub.com -- For more information, email J.B. through his assistant -- korea@siampolonews.com -- LATEST NEWS -- The tournament will be 10 goals and have 2 teams: KOREA TEAM with Robert (5 goal), Nicolas Pieroni (3 goal), Alex (2 goal), and J.B. and Noel (-2 goal). INTERNATIONAL TEAM with Mark (4 goal), Charlie Field (4 goal), Marc (1 goal), and Alex (1 goal). Many of the players are from Australia, some from Singapore and UK, and there will be one sole gaucho from Argentina -- many of you have heard of him before, some of you have even seen him -- we were not sure where he had disappeared to, but we have found him -- Nicolas Pieroni "El Campeon de La Vida" and a proud member de La Asociacion de Los Gauchos Timidos is now in Korea. We will bring you more on the exciting story of Nicolas and Flaca "en serio, no estoy una chica histerica" as soon as we can. The other news is that the gaucho, vet and head of Argentina mountain search and rescue operations, Daniel Yanez, will also be heading to Korea for this historic polo match. The other vet, Facundo, is now in Khao Yai, and he confirms that he has not been on any expeditions up there.

12-16 JUN 2010 -- CONSUL GENERAL CUP IN CHINA
Steve Wyatt has proudly shared with us that the famous 6-8 goal Consul General Cup is returning to Nine Dragons in China. This has become a very popular tournament for spectators and the high fashion ladies in Shanghai and is not to be missed. www.ndhpolo.com -- Many of China's up and coming players have made their way to Thailand to compete and their level of play is increasing rapidly -- especially with Brian Xu's recent victory in the King Power Gold Cup at VR Sports Club. UPDATE 19JUN2010 -- We hear that the German Team with gauchos Federico von Potobsky and Terramoto Talamoni have won the Consul General Cup 2010. It is a very interesting story, because the Terramoto Team defeated the German Team with Potobsky last year in the final seconds -- so the old adage holds true, "if you can't beat 'em, get them to join you." Congratulations to all teams. We have heard reports that the Nine Dragons Field is one of the best fields in the world. Well done to Nine Dragons Polo. RESULTS: Porsche and Jebsen Germany Team won the cup. Second place was Star River Italy and Third place was Hurun Report UK. Wayne Glennie was back on the field for Hurun. Our very own Cabeza Grande was on the field in China for the very first time supporting our good friend Brian Xu and his Noblesse Shanghai Team. Other teams were M-House Hong Kong and Sun Media China. The Cabeza is now back in Argentina with his BlackBerry. There is an increasing number of gauchos now fielding the BlackBerry -- including Lucas in Villa Dolores and Pepperoni in Korea.

9-12 APR 2010 -- SONGKRAN CUP AT VR
The Songkran Cup is one of the oldest and most invigorating tournaments in Thailand -- for the winners anyway!! -- If you lose this one, your time has come to lie prostrate on the ground and receive several buckets of ice water. Indonesia was last years winner of the Songkran Cup. This year everyone is invited to send in their name and they will be put on a team. Khun Vichai has never ever received a bucket of water in the Songkran Cup, so this may be the year. If you want to join this very fun tournament (0-6 goals), then email Gustavo -- gustavo@argentinapolo.com -- This will be the last official tournament of the season. We have heard from Stijn and he says that he is coming and probably bringing many players from our friends the Singapore Polo Club. So far, we see that Martin Young, Gerry Gan, Graham and Anna Cox, Stijn, Eric, Vichai, Top, Tal, Noo, Ploy are coming. Khun Ploy loves the Songkran Cup, but not when she looses. UPDATES COMING SHORTLY.

31 MAR, 1, 3, 4 APR 2010 -- THE UNIVERSITY CUP
For the first time, there will be a University Cup in Thailand. The University Cup is held to promote polo at the University Level and to invite international teams from around the world to compete in Thailand. This year, Khun Ploy has assembled and impressive team and we look forward to watching her compete. Apparently, the 4th is to be a combination Final and Birthday Cup. For more information on the University Cup -- email Gustavo@argentinapolo.com -- UPDATE: On 30th Malaysia beat Regents A 13-9.5 // On 31st Regents B beat Sweden 4-3 and Singapore beat Royal Holloway 5-4. // On 1st Thailand beat Sweden 4-3, Regents A beat Royal Holloway 5-3. Malaysia beat Singapore 7-6 in a very exciting game. // Thailand will be going to the finals. // This is the first time we have ever seen a University Level Polo Tournament in Thailand and it is very excitement to see this level of interest in polo -- especially in Southeast Asia. It is also bound to be excellent training for SEA Games 2011.
1) Regent's A - Rhys Cole 0, Ploy Bhinsaeng -2, Christian Badenhop 0, Matthias Muelbachel -2
2) Regent's B - George Shelton -1, Constatijn Huynen 1, Viktor Peterson -1, Nick Motz -2
3) Malaysia - Chevy Beh 4, Garvy Beh 2, Flea Vaughn -2, Lucie Cowan -2
4) Royal Holloway - Charlie Minns Shearer 1, Tom Lama Croft 1, Anoushka Siegler -1, Emma Louise Cowrick -2, (Grace Flower -2)
5) Singapore - Imran Jumabhoy 0, Marc Hoeberg 1, John Hardee 0, Waqas Khan 1
6) Sweden - Jonathan Willen -2, Emily Cheah -1, Olliver Warley -2, Fadzli Shah Anuar -2
7) Thailand - Top, Tal, Noo, Tumb

22-28 MAR 2010 -- KING POWER AND AUDEMARS PIGUET IN FINAL AT KING'S CUP ELEPHANT POLO
View King's Cup Elephant Polo Portraits -- www.jeremysamuelson.com/incoming/polo/ -- View ABC News Photos of "World's Most Amazing Sport" -- http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/slideshow/photos-elephant-polo-thailand-10231615 -- Elephant Polo returns to the far northern corner of Thailand once again along the Burmese border amidst lush tropical jungle. This year was a very exciting year with a final between King Power and Audemars Piguet. Gustavo Yanez was for the first time in his life playing polo on the back of an elephant. Khun Nat and Khun Tom stuck him at back, and he performed brilliantly. The King Power team coming off a very exciting victory over Mercedes the previous day, was finding it difficult to put the ball in the goal with Audemars Piguet. The Kalaan brothers were playing very well and won through to claim the trophy. Mercedes played a fantastic game for third place against SOCO. Ed Story was back in fine form. The Grand Mullis was seen on the field playing this year for Veuve Cliquot. Mullis brought his tractor to the elephant polo. He is building a polo field on his farm about 11 km from Chiangsaen and he says he is building a hotel there too. All of the veteran players were trying to get Mullis to host a dinner at his farm next year. Khun Nat was promoted to the position of "Polo Professional" on the elephant polo field by Gustavo after scored relentlessly against Mercedes. James Manclark was thrilled with his 8 goals against the Anantara team, but he would not let Sangay substitute in on the Spice Girls team when he was asked to replace Khun Robin -- even though he was wearing a wig and a pink helmet. The teams for this year were as follows -- www.anantaraelephantpolo.com
Audemars Piguet - Peter Prentice (Captain), Angad Kalaan, Uday Kalaan, Oliviero Bottinelli (Team Owner/Manager).
Kingpower Thailand - Tom Claytor, Top Raksriaksorn, Gustavo Yanez, Nattapong Patummalee.
Mercedes Benz Germany - Oliver Winter (Captain), Niffy Winter, Hugo Goetz, Dirk Goetz.
SOCO International - Ed Story (Team Manager / Owner), Jason Friedman, Khun Taweesak, Paul.
Veuve Cliquot - Chris Stafford (Captain), Col Raj Kalaan, Robert Mullis, Bjorn Richardson.
Price Waterhouse WEPA Legends - Paul Stitt (Team Owner), Kristjan Edwards (Captain), Stine Edwards, Tim Edwards.
TAT Thailand - David Wildridge (Captain), William Wildridge, Simon
American Express - Rikard Hogberg (Captain), Thomas Engstrom, James Manclark.
IBM Spice Girls - Sam Prentice (Captain), Chakra, Geoffrey Dobbs, Khun Robin.