New sponsor for key UK tournament
Today, the news broke that the thrice Gold Cup winning King Power organisation will be sponsoring the Cowdray Park Polo Club based Gold Cup tournament for the next three years. Their team/s have had great success in the high goal circuit, but will not be playing in the 2018 high goal team list.
The King Power International Group is Thailand’s leading travel retail organisation, based in Bangkok. Since its inception in 1989, the company has grown to dominance with presence worldwide and an annual turnover of over a billion pounds.
Set up by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, in recent years the team/s have been hugely successful, notching up three Gold Cup Wins in 2015, 2016 and again this year. Winners of the 2015 Cartier Queen’s Cup and 2017 Semi Finalists, the King Power base, Billingbear, has become the hub of young British players’ development. This season saw James ‘Jimbo’ Fewster, Hugo Taylor and Charles Cooney sport the iconic King Power blue shirts alongside the 10 goal brothers Facundo and Gonzalito Pieres.
2017 was the team’s fourth year on Cowdray Park Polo Club’s hallowed Lawns 1 for the coveted Gold Cup Final, having reached the Final in 2014, narrowly losing out to Dubai, and having won the golden trophy in 2015 and 2016. Last year, King Power, with Hugo Lewis as their young British addition and Tal at number one, took the top spot winning The Gold Cup against Michael Bickford’s La Indiana in a struggle of willpower against horsepower. Their 2017 season was not a straightforward affair. Following an unsuccessful run in The Cartier Queen’s Cup, losing coincidentally to their Gold Cup Final rivals El Remanso, they came into the 2017 Gold Cup with vengeance on their minds. Other than their first match against the British side on 11 July, where they lost 9-8 in the qualifying stages, they won every other match and the Final was no different, beating El Remanso 13-8 at the final bell.
King Power’s Chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, says, “Polo is a passion for us. Having won the prestigious Gold Cup for the British Open three times, I am glad to be sponsoring this world-famous tournament. We are truly impressed with the way in which Cowdray Park Polo Club manages its grounds and the administration of the British Open Championship and are looking forward to a long and happy association with the club.”
Matt Petersen, General Manager, Cowdray Park Polo Club adds, “I would like to pass on my thanks to all those involved from Cowdray Park and King Power whose hard work has resulted in this exciting news. King Power’s partnership with Cowdray Park represents a tremendous boost for polo both in the UK and internationally and enhances the reputation of the Gold Cup for the British Open.”
Alongside their patronage of the polo world, King Power are also known for their support of Leicester City Football Club and Oud-Heverlee Leuven Football Club.