Fortune Heights Snow Polo World Cup 2013 Quarter Finals Conclude; Argentina, England, Hong Kong China and South Africa Will Move Forward
12 teams from around the world vie for the world championship at Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club from Jan 25 – Feb 3
The Fortune Heights Snow Polo World Cup 2013 (“Snow Polo World Cupâ€) continued into the sixth day at Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club (“Metropolitan Polo Clubâ€). Snow Polo World Cup is one of the major events on the world polo calendar, and is the largest snow polo tournament in the world. This is the second year running that Metropolitan Polo Club, the largest polo facility in China, has been chosen as the venue of this prestigious event. The tournament is hosted by the Equestrian Association of China and the Federation of International Polo (FIP), and is organized by the Tianjin Sports Bureau, the Hong Kong Polo Development and Promotion Federation (HKPDPF) and the Tianjin Polo Association, with support from various sponsors.
Twelve teams have been participating in this year’s tournament with handicaps ranging from 14 to 16 goals, making this the world’s premier snow polo event. The teams, selected in cooperation with the Federation of International Polo, represent 9 out of the top 10 polo countries. Countries represented at the start of the tournament were: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, England, France, Hong Kong, China, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. Eight of these teams passed through the qualifying rounds into the 2-day Quarter Finals, which concluded today.
Yesterday saw Hong Kong, China, last year’s tournament winner, defeating New Zealand on a tense penalty shootout after a 5 goal to 5 tie. England then scored a ecisive victory, 6 goals to 3 against Chile. Today, both of these Semi-Finalists watched intently from the elegant comfort of the viewing gallery, hoping to deepen their understanding of their upcoming opponents’ strengths and weaknesses.