Beach Polo Round-Up
Reports
Scotland Take Asahi Crown Celts dominate at Asahi British Beach Polo Championships on 10 – 11 July
Asahi British Beach Polo Champions, Eclipse Scotland
attending the 8th Asahi British Beach Polo Championships. We are already starting plans for next year’s event and will do our very best to top this year – although that could be hard!” A polo pony vs car charity race between the Best Playing Pony, ridden by Jonny Good, and a car from Poole Audi, saw Zidan the pony come out the victor against an Audi Q7. The race supported children’s charity, Variety. The Asahi British Beach Polo Championships; 10 – 11 July; Sandbanks Result: Eclipse Scotland beat Clogau/ Digital Reality Wales, 9-8 Sub Final: Alix Partners England beat Meyado Barbarians 13-9 Teams: Clogau/ Digital Reality Wales (9): Ricky Cooper 1; Roddy Matthews 4; Jamie Le Hardy 4 Eclipse Scotland (8): Jonathan Tidswell-Pretorius -1; Alec Banner-Eve 3; Jonny Good 6 Alix Partners England (8): Tarquin Southwell 5; Peter Saville 0; Tito Gaudenzi 3 Meyado Barbarians (8): Martin Young 2; Sebastian Alexander 4; Algy Sim 2
Photography by Richard Budd
The eighth Asahi British Beach Polo Championships saw 10,000 spectators gather on Sandbanks Beach for two days of exciting sport, and a sell-out beach party. Friday saw Alix Partners England play Clogau/ Digital Reality Wales, followed by ultimate victors Eclipse Scotland who fended-off Meyado Barbarians. The outcomes of these matches meant that the Welsh side faced Scotland in the Final. The showdown was hard-fought and exciting, with victory snatched in the last few seconds by Eclipse Scotland 9 goals to 8. The Sub Final was just as exciting, as
Alix Partners England took on the Meyado Barbarians to win 13-9. The Alix Partners England side played an excellent game in the beach arena, despite the impracticalities of adapting to a change of surface; the Barbarians also played well but ultimately were no match for England. The Captain of Eclipse Scotland, Jonny Good, said, “Beach polo is thrilling to play as it is so fast paced – quite different to grass polo. The Beach Polo Championships are a highlight for the professional polo players as we know it will be great fun and we are all keen to win. It was a hard fought match with Clogau/Digital Reality Wales, but I am pleased that we managed to get the upper edge to receive the winning title – let’s hope we can maintain our next year’s event!” The weekend also saw the REVO Beach Volleyball Sand Slam 2015 Olympic Qualifying match between England and Greece. A gruelling match saw the English team of Vicky Palmer and Jess Grimson triumph. The event organiser, Johnny Wheeler, enthused, “We couldn’t have asked for a more successful event. The weather was on our side with sunny skies throughout the two days and record numbers
Eclipse Scotland vs the Meyado Barbarians
www.polotimes.co.uk
Clogau/Digital Reality Team Wales with the ball
Polo Times, August 2015
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