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DOMINIC JAMES
T H A I P O L O O P E N , P A T T A Y A , T H A I L A N D , J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7
A C T I O N
T H A I P O L O O P E N
The Southeast Asian tournament culminated in a well-matched final where
both teams shared the glory of joint first place, says Carolina Beresford
This January, the Thai Polo & Equestrian
Club was once again the setting for
a fabulous tournament: the prestigious
Thai Polo Open. This 12-goal competition
has become one of the most important polo
events in Southeast Asia, taking place every
January at Dato’ Harald Link’s beautiful club
in Pattaya, Thailand. Five teams took part
in this year’s tournament, including home
team Thai Polo, Mohamed Moiz’s La Familia
and Brian Xu’s Axus.
Link’s team narrowly missed out on last
year’s title, losing the cup to 22BR – so this
season, their eyes were firmly set on the
prize. Their determination paid off:Thai Polo
made it to the final with a 3-1 record, ready
to face La Familia – a team they had defeated
by half a goal in the league stages.
The home team got off to a good start,
which was down to the leadership of 7-goal
Argentinian Agustin Garcia Grossi, but
La Familia responded quickly, with Gines
Bargallo scoring an impressive goal to tie
the game at the end of the first.
The second chukka saw fast, open play,
with Thai Polo leading the attack. La Familia
stayed solid in defence, but Grossi scored
once again, as did Dato’ Harald. An inspired
Moiz sped up and down the field, scoring
two consecutive goals just as the first
raindrops started to fall. The rain got heavier
in the third chukka and the game was
temporarily suspended.
The weather failed to improve and, with
the safety of players and horses in mind, the
captains of each team decided to cancel
the rest of the game and share the Thai Polo
Open title. Mohamed Moiz was named MVP,
while Link’s Zorro, played by Pablo Jauretche,
was chosen as Best Playing Pony. A cheerful
awards ceremony and dinner followed.
Despite the result, the day was
characteristic of events organised by Link and
the club’s polo manager Manuel Cereceda:
filled with fun, laughter – and champagne!
Mohamed Moiz (left) and
Dato’ Harald Link share the Thai
Polo Open trophy
