British Herald headed on over to the Indian subcontinent’s Pink City to participate in the spectacular 2020 Asia Cup Polo International Day celebrations.
31st January 2020: Cocktail Party at City Palace
The 19th Asia Cup Polo International Day event celebrations commenced with a cocktail party for VIP guests on 31st January evening in Jaipur City Palace’s Sobha Niwas room, hosted by Asia Cup founder Neil Sen and the Royal Family. The resplendent location played the setting to a memorable evening with a guest list featuring elites from Jaipur, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore and London.
The guests were welcomed with the warmest greetings, J Oppman wines and sweeping vistas of fort and temple, beautifully illuminated against the dark evening skies. With an evening of extensive networking and merry-making, the eventful evening drew to a close with rising anticipation of the events from the next day’s polo match.
1st February 2020: International Polo Match
The day began with an international match between the Singapore and Royal Jaipur teams. The Singapore team was captained by Kwan Lo and the Royal Jaipur team was captained by His Highness Maharajah Padmanabh Singh.
Playing any sport away from home fields are challenging, to say the least. In the sport of polo, this is the case even more so as horses play such a significant role in the sport.
Despite these challenges, the Singapore team played brilliantly. Patrick Furlong especially put on quite the show, keeping up his +4 handicap, the highest of both teams.
At the end of the second chukka (polo has four 7-minute segments called ‘chukkas’) of the match, Royal Jaipur led by 3-2. His Highness Maharajah Padmanabh Singh displayed his fine Indian polo season form contributing 3 goals with Pratap Kanota and Vikramaditya Singh Barkana pitching in with 2 goals leading the home team to a comfortable 7-3 win.
Needless to say, the Royal Jaipur team were the winners of the match but Patrick Furlong from the Singapore team was awarded the title of Man of the Match for his outstanding performance.
1st February 2020: Prize Distribution and Closing Ceremony
The prizes to all the winners were presented by His Highness Maharaj Narendra Singh, title sponsors De Nuevo’s Monty Singh and DDotsquares’ Bahul Chandra.
The prizes were not limited to the winners of the polo match and the man of the match. A lucky member of the VIP crowd in attendance won a Business Class return ticket from Turkish Airlines, presented by Ritika Seth.
Upcoming Events
The upcoming 20th Asia Cup Polo International Day event shall take place in London in the summer. Coincidentally the 20th Asia Cup Polo International Day happens in the year 2020!
A few more events are in the pipeline in Singapore and Dubai later in the year. So, watch this space for more!