Beaufort Polo Club plays host to the FIP 14 goal Qualifiers for the 2015 World Championships
By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
Across the Country many kit and stick bags may already be riding in the back of Audis heading, not this time for the familiar fields of Cowdray, Guards or Cirencester, but check in at Heathrow as they accompany players to distant and much sunnier climes. In England at Beaufort Polo Club however things are heating up once again this week with some key qualifiers being played by those players looking to secure a place in the 10th FIP World Championships.
Given that these championships will be hosted by the Club de Polo y Equitacion San Cristobal in Santiago, Chile in conjunction with the Federaction Chilena de Polo in March 2015 (and from a two month stay in the country, many visits to the Club, not to mention some stick & balling with the stunning ever colour-changing Andes as a backdrop and meeting some amazing people, I can personally recommend this as one of the most beautiful places in the World) this is definitely a polo tournament not to be missed.
The World Cup Championships is for men’s national teams up to a handicap of 14 goals, and over the next week teams from England (1. George Pearson, 2. Tommy Beresford, 3. Will Emerson and 4. Pete Webb), Ireland (1. Seb Dawnay, 2. Mike Henderson, 3. Max Hutchinson and 4. Niall Donnelly), France (1. Pierre-Henri Ngoumou, 2. Clemente Delfosse, 3. Robert Strom and 4. Etienne Croquet) and Spain (1. Luis Domecq, 2. Ignacio Domecq, 3. Mario Gomez-Duran and 4. Pelayo Berazadi) will compete for one place in Chile, where they will be up against the host nation Chile, reigning FIP World Champions, Argentina and five other teams.
The schedule for the qualifying matches is:
Wednesday 24th September
16.00 England v Spain
Friday 26th September
12.00 Spain v Ireland
14.00 England v Ireland
Sunday 28th September
12.00 Spain v Ireland
15.00 England v France
Tuesday 30th September
12.00 France v Ireland
Everyone is welcome to go along to Beaufort Polo Club and support the teams; entry to the polo is free. On Friday night the Club will be hosting an asado with live music ( if possible please book tickets in advance, before Thursday, by calling 01666 880410 or email eventsLive@beaufortpoloclub.co.uk).