10th – 14th october 2012
Cartier, in conjunction with Tang Polo Club Beijing and Guards Polo Club in the UK, has announced the creation of a new Cartier International Polo Day. This event, entitled the Cartier International China Polo Challenge, will be held at Shilai Liu’s Tang Polo Club in Beijing from 10-14 October. Attracting world leading patrons and players of the game, four teams will compete in a competitive 12-goal tournament to win the Cartier China Trophy and, of course, an elegant Cartier watch.
Event host Shilai Liu will co-patron the Cartier team. China’s leading player was introduced to polo in 2005 and has played the sport around the world. He became China’s first registered member of the Federation of International Polo (FIP) and in this October’s Cartier International China Polo Challenge Shilai Liu will play alongside Swiss patron Adriano Agosti. The latter is no stranger to Cartier success as he was patron of the Cartier team which won the 2012 Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge in the United Arab Emirates and the Polo World Cup on Snow in St Moritz, Switzerland, with a Cartier team in 2008. These two leading patrons will be supported by Argentine professionals including Juan Jose Brane. The Tang team will feature another leading Chinese patron, Nan Liu and Thai patron Top Raksriaksorn.
Dorchester Collection, owners of Coworth Park, the luxury country house hotel in Berkshire, England, and sister property to the iconic London hotel, The Dorchester, is a team sponsor at the event. Details of the players who will sport a Dorchester Collection shirt will be announced shortly. However Dorchester Collection is no stranger to the game of polo as Coworth Park boasts two polo fields, which are managed by the Polo Office at Guards Polo Club.
Equus & Co’s participation as a polo team sponsor in the 2012 Cartier International China Polo Challenge further extends Equus & Co’s long established commitment and support for the growth of polo in China commencing in several geographical locations in China in 2008, its global participation in international polo activities and its long standing relationship with Guards Polo Club. As a committed global supporter of the global equestrian community (polo – dressage – jumping), Equus & Co continues its commitment to be the private advisor to the global equestrian community seeking objective oriented solutions for clients in the transaction and financial advisory sectors.
On announcing this new event in the prestigious calendar of Cartier Polo Days, Josephine Chien, Director of Cartier’s Far East Operations, said: “Dedicated to the long heritage stemming from Windsor, St Moritz and Dubai, the Cartier International China Polo Challenge marks its first edition in China. Cartier’s association with polo combines elegance, passion and tradition, values which reflect the lifestyle symbolised by Cartier and I look forward to a memorable event at Tang Polo Club this October.”
Neil Hobday, Chief Executive of Guards Polo Club, said of this new Cartier event: “We are honoured to work once again with Cartier to create another world-class event. The Cartier heritage is known throughout the world and it is appropriate that the Cartier International Day comes to China, a country which was playing polo more than 2000 years ago. Our host at Tang Polo Club, Shilai Liu is passionate about the game and is creating a first-class club here in Beijing which can offer great sport at an international standard.”
Cartier launched the Cartier International China Polo Challenge 2012 with a media event to highlight the sport of polo to the Chinese media. Tang Polo Club’s polo manager and Argentine professional Agustin Andrada and Guards Polo Club’s own Oliver Hipwood spoke with such passion about the game that by the end of the morning all guests were keen to practice their polo shots on the wooden horse and try their hand at riding in the extensive arena. Although China has a rich equine heritage, only now is polo being reintroduced to this vast country and so this event was a first opportunity for many of Cartier’s media guests to get close to a horse. Oliver Hipwood will return to Tang Polo Club in October, accompanied by his father Howard, as they have been appointed the official umpires for the tournament.
The competition will begin with an opening ceremony on Wednesday 10 October. Three days of matches will conclude with an elegant final on Sunday 14 October, with Cartier China will be hosting some 250 guests in its elegant marquee, made up of leading celebrities and opinion leaders, plus influential figures from the world of polo.
With La Martina providing the team shirts and Guards Polo Club bringing the elegance and refinement that enables any Cartier event to stand out among its peers for style, glamour and sophistication, the Cartier International China Polo Challenge will be an impressive event that will evoke much interest both in China and much further afield.