From Smith’s Lawn to Brazil
By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
As the bell echoed across Smith’s Lawn late on Sunday afternoon, it signalled not only the end of the match and Chairman’s Tournament, but the end of the 2014 season at Guards Polo Club, with players gathering for the last prize-giving of the season to watch Brian Stein and his Ockholt team lifting the trophy having beaten Clive Reid and his AFB team.
It was not however the end for the Guards team themselves as they headed out to the Helvetia Polo Club in Brazil for the inaugural Guards International Sao Paulo Polo Trophy Tournament, adding Brazil to their other International global fixtures currently held in Dubai (Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge at Ali Albwardy’s Desert Palm Polo Club, started in 2006), China (Beijing at Shilai Liu’s Tang Polo Club, 2012) and Argentina (Guards La Aguada Polo Cup with the Novillo Astrada brothers in 2013). Guards Polo Club themselves may also recently have added another high goal pitch to their already impressive grounds set in Windsor Great Park in recent weeks – aptly named The Castle Ground – but even they have a little way to go to compete with the forty five fields this new Brazilian venue has to offer the players in this tournament.
Playing in the Sao Paulo Polo Trophy Tournament will be top handicapped amateur players from both Guards and Brazil, in team shirts supplied by La Martina. Patrons more often seen on the pitches at Smith’s Lawn include: Grant Mayer (1) – Yaguara (Roberto Edydio de Souza Aranha 3, Carlos Francisco Martins Bastos 4, Gonçalo Matarrazo 5 (13); Alex Brodie (1) – EFG Bank (Jose Eduardo de Souza Aranha 2, Francisco Marcos Junqueira Netto 4, Luiz Paulo Martins Bastos 6 (13); Eitan Koren (0) – TeleAtlantic (Wolff Klabin 2, Renato Diniz Junqueira 6, Joao Gaspar Martins Bastos 5 (13); and Adriano Agosti (0)– Guards Polo Club (Igor Pinheiro 3, Norberto Pinheiro 4, Rodrigo Pinheiro 5 (12).
The tournament will take place from 15th – 20th September 2014.