Tue 14th Jan 2020Palm Beach Equine Victorious Joe Barry Memorial 2020
On Sunday 12 January, the second phase of the US 18 goal, the 2020 Joe Barry Memorial, came to an end at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, with Palm Beach Equine and Stable Door Polo pitted against one another in the Final.
Yesterday’s Final was a rematch of last weekend’s Iglehart Cup Final, again between Palm Beach Equine and Stable Door Polo, which Stable Door Polo sealed with a 10-8 win. With both teams possessing intimate knowledge of their opposition’s play and style, it was a fast-paced display of skill with the goals flying from end-to-end in a high scoring Final. The lead changed five times during the match and the result was anyone’s guess right up to the last chukka.
In the end, the fifth and final lead change happened in the sixth chukka in favour of Palm Beach Equine, which saw them take the title with a score of 14-12. Raúl ‘Gringo’ Colombres was named Most Valuable Player and also picked up Best Playing Pony for Coquito.
The 18 goal action continues this week with the Ylvisaker Cup, which has eight teams entered. The first match takes place tomorrow, Wednesday 15 January between Coca Cola and La Indiana.
The Joe Barry Memorial Final Teams:
Palm Beach Equine (18): Gonzalo Ferrari (4), Lucas Díaz Alberdi (6), Raúl ‘Gringo’ Colombres (8) & Scott Swerdlin (0)
Stable Door Polo (18): Matias Magrini (7), Santino Magrini (4), Henry Porter (3) & Robert Orthwein (4)
Photograph: Palm Beach Equine, winners of The Joe Barry Memorial 2020. By Alex Pacheco
Mon 13th Jan 2020Snow Polo World Cups Take Europe By Storm Kitzbühel and St. Moritz ready for snow polo action
Over the following two weeks, the Alps will be awash with polo fans aplenty as the European snow polo season takes shape in Austria and Switzerland. From this Friday 17 January, Kitzbühel, in the heart of the Austrian Alps, a whopping eight teams will compete for the coveted 18th Bendura Bank Snow Polo World Cup Kitzbühel title, with players hailing from across the world to participate. What’s more, the tournament hosts one of the best VIP experiences available, with delicious refreshments and pitchside seats on offer, to ensure you’re at the very heart of the action. In an addition to all the exciting polo on the snow, this year will see the return of luxury apparel provider La Martina. There are the last few tickets available here now, so strap on your best snowshoes and enjoy Austria’s world famous hospitality. The 18th Bendura Bank Snow Polo World Cup Kitzbühel 2020 Teams:
Bendura Bank (12): Melissa Ganzi (1 – Captain), Alejandro Novillo Astrada (8) & Tito Gaudenzi (3)
Engel & Völkers (12): Ana Escobedo (1 – Captain), Segundo Darritchon (3) & Jonny Good (8)
World Polo League (13): Marc Ganzi (2 – Captain), Juan Bautista Peluso (3) & Nic Roldan (8)
Corum (10): Eckhardt Juls (1 – Captain), Patrick Maleitzke (5) & Juan Ruiz-Guiñazú (4)
Bernd Gruber (11): Helmet Wieser (0 – Captain), Pato Bolanterio (4) & Santiago Marambio (7)
GP Mobility (10): Henrique Schalldach (2), Marcus Schalldach (2 – Captain) & Guilhermo Lins (6)
Intocast (12): Matthias Normann (1 – Captain), Micky Duggan (5) & Martin Juaregui (6)
Laurent-Perrier (11): Sebastian Schneberger (2), Phillip de Groot (2) & Valentin Novillo Astrada (7)
With a couple of days respite between the two thrilling tournaments, from 24 January, snow polo fans will then flock to the frozen lake in St. Moritz Switzerland, for The Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz. With four expert teams set to compete, this year’s tournament is set to be more exciting than ever. Alongside Badrutt’s Palace, Maserati and Azerbaijan Land of Fire, Swiss jeweller extraordinaire de Grisogono will be thrust into the spotlight sponsoring the fourth powerhouse team, consisting of Zhanna Bandurko/Valery Mishchenko (0), Robert Strom (5), Max Charlton (5) & Nacho Gonzalez (6).
Play in The Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz gets underway on Friday 24 January, with the first match taking place on the frozen St. Moritz lake at 12pm, between Badrutt’s Palace and Azerbaijan Land of Fire. Matches will continue on Saturday and Sunday, with the Final scheduled to take place at 2.15pm on the Sunday.
Admission to the lake is free, but for the extra special experience, the last few VIP tickets are still available. Click here now to make the most of this truly unique experience and we look forward to seeing you on the ice, in our role as Official Media Partner. Polo Times and our sister publication The Polo Magazine will be on hand as Official Media Partners at both events, keeping you in the know on all our social media platforms. Why not come and join us?
The Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz 2020 Teams:
Azerbaijan Land of Fire (15): Elcin Jamalli (2), Pato Bolanteiro (4), Agustin Kronhaus (3) & Santiago Marambio (6). Res – Rashad Hasanov (0) & Ali Rzayev (0)
Badrutt’s Palace Hotel (18): Melissa Ganzi (0), Juan Bautista Peluso (2), Nic Roldan (8) & Alejandro Novillo Astrada (8)
de GRISOGONO (16): Zhanna Bandurko/Valery Mishchenko (0), Robert Strom (5), Max Charlton (5) & Nacho Gonzalez (6)
Maserati (14): Kutlay Yaprak (1), Fabio Meier (1), Adrian Laplacette Jr (6) & Valentin Novillo Astrada (6)
Photograph: The next two weeks will see all eyes turned to the Alps for snow polo in Kitzbühel & St. Moritz. Courtesy of CRTC Studios and Kathrin Gralla www.derrotedrache.de
Fri 10th Jan 2020The Future of Polo Concerns raised following Daily Mail article
No doubt a large majority of our readers will have seen the recent articles from The Daily Mail regarding the future of our sport and the ongoing visa crisis.
Following the general election in December 2019 and the induction of new MPs, the new cabinet has been tussling for position and influence, with polo seemingly getting somewhat caught in the crossfire, causing great concern amongst our ranks.
On 29 December, The Daily Mail announced that Home Secretary Priti Patel had released plans to “ditch the polo industry visa deal” and “axe arrangements that allowed 500 polo players into Britain despite fear it was being exploited for illegal immigrants.” Following what has been a challenging few years for the British polo industry, this apparent announcement has come as an alarming shock to many in the community. However, there is little to no evidence to substantiate the claim that the plans for polo visas have deviated at all from what was originally agreed between the Home Office and HPA.
When the polo visa crisis originally came to light in 2017, the aim of the Home Office was to create more opportunities for British grooms in the polo sector, which was practical at low goal levels with fewer horses, but when it comes to high goal organisations, there are a lot more factors at play, with an exceedingly high level of skill required to safely manage large strings of ponies. This is where the apparent lack of specific polo training for British grooms has caused a disconnect, which only individuals from outside the EU with extensive training alleviate. Three years on, there remains a distinct shortage of British grooms who possess the skills that are required at the top level to fill the gap posed by the refusal of entry of grooms from Argentina, Australia and further afield.
The fallout since 2017 has been felt by everyone in British polo, across all levels but, despite alternative comments made in the tabloids, the plans for changes to visas for those players and grooms coming from outside the EU has not changed in recent months, with the HPA continuing to communicate with the Home Office to bring about a rectification to the current stalemate.
Photograph: Concerns have been raised about the future of visas within polo following a series of Daily Mail articles. By Polo Times
 | 
Contact us 
.jpg "Snow Polo World Cups Take Europe By Storm")
Thu 9th Jan 2020
Wed 8th Jan 2020
Mon 6th Jan 2020
Thu 2nd Jan 2020
Wed 1st Jan 2020
Wed 25th Dec 2019
