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hurlinghampolo.com
ABI HANCOCK / THE ART OF POLO
T H E H U R L I N G H A M P O L O 1 8 7 5 B R I T I S H L A D I E S P O L O C H A M P I O N S H I P S , C O W D R A Y P A R K , U K , J U L Y 2 0 1 8
A C T I O N
B R I T I S H L A D I E S P O L O
A record number of teams entering the championship
proves women’s polo is on the up, says Liz Higgins
Women’s polo is on a roll worldwide and proof
came in abundance as Cowdray Park Polo
Club welcomed a record entry of 14 teams for
the 2018 British Ladies Polo Championships
in July. Keen to join the momentum, the
quality UK clothing brand Hurlingham Polo
1875 became title sponsors in what is hoped
to be a long and fruitful association.
To manage the high number of entries,
Cowdray Park set two handicap levels,
The British Ladies Open Championship
played at both an 18- and a 12-goal level.
An exceptionally high standard of polo was
seen throughout the tournaments, which ran
through the final week of the King Power
Gold Cup for the British Open Polo
Championship, the ladies’ finals being played
at the Lawns grounds on the same weekend
as the men: another first for Cowdray Park.
In the final of the 18-goal championship,
Dodson & Horrell with Jenny Doherty (1
goal) at number 1, Saffron Hutchinson (3
goals) at 2, Hannah Henderson (4 goals)
at 3 and the world’s top female player,
Nina Clarkin (10 goals), at back, met Sheikha
Maitha Bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum’s UAE Polo Team, the patron
taking the number 1 position with Catalina
Ayerza (1 goal) at number 2, Milly Sanchez
(6 goals) in place of Mia Cambiaso at 3,
and Candelaria Fernandez-Araujo
(8 goals) at back.
Nina Clarkin was first to mark the
scoreboard for Dodson & Horrell within
the first minute of play. A penalty to Dodson
& Horrell, which Clarkin sent between the
posts from 40 yards made it 2–0. Fernandez-
Araujo replied for UAE before the chukka
ended at 2–1 in favour of D & H. By half
time Dodson & Horrell were 4–2 ahead.
Fast free-flowing action continued
through the third chukka, although UAE
failed to score and Dodson & Horrell’s only
goal came from a 40-yard penalty. The
fourth chukka opened with the ball coming
