Polo in the park

Friday June 19, 2009

For many people Polo in the Park would have been their first experience of the sport - including reporter Kate Youde who went along on the Saturday.

Any sport that starts with what the announcer terms a 'suicide dash' has certainly got my attention. This was not what I expected from my first taste of polo.

Seventy years since its last outing in Hurlingham Park, the game came home, albeit in an updated form.

Just as Twenty20 spiced up cricket, so Polo in the Park promised to simplify the rules to deliver a faster sport. And the opening to the third-place play-off between Moscow and Buenos Aires did not disappoint.

The 'dash' was actually a gallop as a rider from each team hurtled to the ball in the centre of the field to gain possession.

Head-on collision averted, the fast and furious pace continued as the four-player teams sought to fire the ball with mallets through goalposts at the ends of the field.

For this version of polo, a goal scored from outside a D-ring around the posts equalled two points while a shot from inside made one. The match was divided into four chukkas (periods of play) with riders changing their ponies at the end of each.

Players deemed by the two mounted umpires to have broken the rules were consigned to a 'sin bin'. For polo novices like myself, an explanation of the foul they had committed would have been useful.

To steal a football cliche, it was real end-to-end stuff. Buenos Aries clawed back a 7-4 deficit at the end of the second chukka to win 12-8, and the sport had its thrills and spills. Literally.

Twice a Moscow player and pony crashed to the ground when trying to corner sharply at speed. Luckily all were OK and returned to the action, but polo is obviously more hazardous than I had imagined. According to the event's organisers, I learn afterwards, it is actually the second most dangerous sport in the UK.

The spectators also had to keep their eyes on the ball as the ponies thundered next to the hoardings and a rogue shot flew into the crowd.

Their starring role came at half-time when, in keeping with tradition, they took to the field to tread in the divots. How helpful the efforts of all those dressed-to-impress ladies in high heels were, though, is debatable.

Polo is more than a sport - it is an occasion and a people-watcher's paradise.

I cannot imagine it being something I would go to regularly but, if it had been warmer, I would definitely have stayed for more.