The West Sussex team win Czech Snow Polo Master
Having not played on snow for four years or so, All England Polo Club’s John Bunn was intrigued when an invitation came across his desk to send a team to the Czech Republic. Playing under the name of Ski Areal, the side featured Chas Taylor, Guy Harrison and John Bunn (Captain). In its second year, the tournament was held in the prestigious Czech ski resort of Špindleruv Mlyn in the Krkonosse Mountains. The tournament organisers decided to move their fixture from its usual spot in March to January, the coldest and busiest period of the year, so the snow conditions were fantastic and Finals day welcomed a far bigger audience.
Team Ski Areal emerged the winners with four straight victories, whilst second place went to Brandgift, which was captained by British player, Tim Vaux. Despite not claiming the tournament title, Vaux was awarded MVP after he personally racked up an impressive 17 goals during the event as well as picking up the Best Playing Pony prize for Hijo, owned by Naveed gill of Gill Polo. Third place went to the Snow Polo Masters team of Captain, Dante Barroso with Renate Seidler and Jarka Pavel. Players, sponsors and spectators are already asking about the 2016 event.
The snow polo season is well underway with St. Moritz and the Snow Polo World Cup in Tianjin, China this weekend and more dates in the diary to follow. We have also seen a number of players from the UK take to the snow at the first leg of The PIPA’s Snow Polo Championships in Austria, The Snow Polo Masters in Megéve, and The 13th Valartis Bank Snow Polo World Cup in Kitzbühel. The March issue of Polo Times will be looking into all things snow polo from ponies to players’ aprés polo.
Photograph: The participating teams at the second Czech Snow Polo Masters. By Jan Hamaďák.
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