POLOBARBADOS The Barbados Open dates back to 2004 when Bruce Bayley hosted the first tournament at Clifton Polo Field. From the outset it captured the imagination of the polo fraternity, both local and overseas, and it quickly became the flagship tournament that projected the arrival of Barbados polo as an international venue. It certainly put the island on the global polo map because a number of highly skilled players were recruited to strengthen the local teams and also to help raise the standard of the local game. At the height of polo popularity and hype the Barbados Open was 16-Goal and the standard was comparatively high when compared to the local game of a few years before.
surprisingly they failed to get out of the blocks and the four teams that reached the semi-finals were Snakebite, Team Rubis, Team ICBL/Sport Lobster and Team Bulova led by the effervescent Sir Charles Williams. Snake Bite and Rubis won their semi-final ties and the Bulova Trophy for 3rd place was won by ICBL/Sport Lobster following a high scoring 6-3 exchange. Team Rubis pinned their hopes on Roddy Williams and Oliver Taylor in the final although Stewart Gill and Oliver Williams had performed well in the earlier games. Kirchoff’s strong Snake Bite team included the talented Christian
nico roberts
Team Snake Bites - David Ashby, max kirchhoff, richard deane & Cristian chaves
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Salvador Duggan
Sponsors came aplenty and the spectators loved the intensity the competitive overseas players brought to the game, but like many good things in life it couldn’t go on forever. The backlash of global recession and less money and resources from both sponsors and polo sources inevitably dropped the benchmark and brought a new realism with more locally based players featuring for several years. However, things are now moving in the right direction and the inclusion of many of the English players last year has raised the benchmark once again.
Chaves and David Ashby with local knowledge from Popular Barbados Polo Club Captain Richard Deane. The early exchanges were evenly shared and the 2-2 halftime scoreline suggested it was either team’s to win. As always when the stakes are high the fortunes swung like a pendulum and another six goals were scored in the final two chukkas, much to the delight of the noisy spectators. But when the hooter sounded it was Snake Bite that held the advantage 6-4 and were crowned champions.
Team Range Rover entered the 2104 tournament as defending champions and with the exciting Danny Atwell leading their attack they had high hopes of retaining the trophy. But
It was the third year of First Citizens Investment Services sponsorship and arguably the most exciting to date. Roll on 2015.