Megève And St Moritz Just Weeks Away
Media Partners for the second year running, Polo Times is delighted to confirm that natural ice formation on the lake has begun in St Moritz ahead of the teams from six countries that are preparing to travel to the Swiss mountains for the 31st edition of the Snow Polo World Cup from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 January.
With snow reports from the Alps being disappointing so far this season it is good news to hear that the ice on the lake of St. Moritz is already strong enough to begin construction of the field and the surrounding hospitality park.
England is represented in an all Brit line up for Team Cartier, Captained by Emlor Polo’s Spencer McCarthy (1), who will play alongside Charlie Wooldridge (2), Nacho Gonzalez (6) and Chris Hyde (6). Chris Hyde and Nacho Gonzalez will be a force to be reckoned with on the ice this year, having notched up an impressive nine wins in the tournament between them since 2001 (four for Gonzalez and five for Hyde).
The only female player on the snow field this year will be America’s Melissa Ganzi (0) who has selected local player Tito Gaudenzi (2) and Argentine professionals Augustin ‘Tincho’ Merlos (9) and Juan Bollini (5) to play for Team Badrutt’s Palace Hotel.
Monte Carlo resident, Italian-born Rommy Gianni (1) will return to St Moritz after having played there in 2015. To play alongside him for Team Maserati he has enlisted the talents of two high-profile Argentine professionals: Dario Musso (7) and Frankie Menendes (6) with another player still to be confirmed.
Cedric Schweri (0), also played in St. Moritz in 2015. This year he represents the host country Switzerland with fellow Swiss player, Luca Zindel (1) for Team Perrier-Jouët alongside two Brazilian players: Aluisio Rosa (7) and Olavo Novaes (7).
To book tickets and VIP packages click here, and for the match schedule and team lists click here.
The schedule and teams for the 21st edition of the Snow Polo Masters, Megève are now available on the Polo Times website. To see the full list of who is playing click here. We understand that the Megève Polo Masters will be the one and only opportunity to see snow polo in France in 2016, with games and activities planned from Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 January.
The 6-8 goal tournament level will see six teams of three players battling it out against each other for three days of competitions in the hope of winning the celebrated Megève trophy, crafted by the sculptor Pierre Margara.
The strong team lead by Laurent Dassault (0) with Matthieu Delfosse (4) and Patrick Paillol (4), winners of the Paris Open in June 2015 and the 20th edition Megève Polo Masters 2015, will be defending their title in a bid to add a new victory to their already illustrious history.
For this new 2016 edition, two English teams are crossing the Channel for the first time to participate in this tournament on snow. One of the teams is led by Freya Dawson (0), who will be the first-ever female Captain in the tournament. She will be playing alongside Grant Collett (3) and Mikey Henderson (4). Regular from last winter’s UK arena season Jonathan Tidswell Pretorius (0), Captains Team V with Alec Banner Eve (2) and Johnny Good (4) making up the second UK team for the tournament.
Photograph: Cartier, winners of the 2015 Snow Polo World Cup St Moritz. By Richenda Hine
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