A C T I O N
Opposite:
Sophie Menard of Yale (in
blue) rides off Kelsey O’Connor of
Harvard ahead of the finals
of the Kirtlington Polo Club in Oxfordshire
and the Cambridge Country Polo Club.
Heading into the finals, Oxford (including
player of the tournament, Hayes Hagan)
were in a winning position having defeated
both Harvard and Yale on day one. The
competition was fierce, with the round-robin
format meaning that all teams were still
in with a chance to take home the coveted
trophy. The Yale and Cambridge match, led
by captains Leila Chang and Ben Lawrence
respectively, started slowly with Cambridge
sneaking in a slow build to victory in the
final chukka of the match. Cambridge then
went to battle against their rivals with the
hope of disrupting a back-to-back Oxford
title. However, Oxford dominated play from
the outset.
This power was matched by Harvard
in their final match against Yale, resulting
in a Harvard win led by Kelsey O’Connor.
As the results were tallied, the guests
enjoyed the generosity of sponsors Cobra
Beer, Champagne Gratiot-Pillière, Camford
1209, La Martina, The Cambridge Satchel
Company and Cambridge University, and
danced in the Cambridge County Polo Club
bus to the favourite local band Truly Medley
Deeply. The tournament victors were Oxford
University Polo Club but the real winners
were the hundreds of attendees, the student
players and their supporters, well wishers
and, of course, the polo itself.
