HONG KONG POLO TEAM A LEGACY IN THE MAKING ENTERS ITS 2ND SEASON OF PLAY AS THE FIRST EVER HONG KONG POLO TEAM
The Hong Kong Polo Team (HKPT) proudly return from their first game of the 2016 Season in the Philippines. With four wins established in 2015 and a thrilling line up of play mapped out for the 2016 Season, HKPT presents the future of Polo in Hong Kong together with its world-class sponsors.
Game One of the 2016 Season at Hong Kong Challenge Cup 2016: Alabang Country Club.
Played over two days against a combination of players from the Philippines, day one saw the team play a solid and expansive game, stretching their lines to the full. With a fast field (beautiful Bermuda Tifton grass) they had to strike only 2-3 long shots to get to the opposite goal. This favoured the HKPT’s game and was reflected in the score line of a 4-5 goal advantage within 2 chukkas for day one.
Captain Patrick Furlong spoke at the end of day two:
“Given the goal advantage we built on day one, the Sunday final saw a complete change in game plan for the Philippines team. On the back of their team coach Anthony Garcia (5-goal player, actively playing the US and Spain season), they came out with a much more solid team, focusing on 1) taking our playmaker out, on a man-to-man mark, and 2) leaving their 2 goal pro free to offload to their forwards. Grinding marking and great will on both sides made for a very enter- taining final, on and off the field. Chukka on chukka they gradually built back the goal difference, and it was only in the last 2 minutes of the last chukka, in an nail-biting finale, they scored the last goal, that gave them the match and the Cup. Although a bit disappointed to lose the Cup having been ahead in the score line all weekend only to lose in the last minutes of play, all credit goes to the great spirit of the Harbour Port team. They did fight very hard to reverse the score and their celebrations were a true reflection of how badly they wanted to keep the cup at home!!”
SEASON 2015 & TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Instigator of the HKPT and President of Asia World Polo, Dave Savage proudly summarized the 2015 season. “We are extremely pleased with the Hong Kong polo team’s impressive perfor- mance in 2015, I think we rocked quite a few boats by only losing one match out of five tourna- ments last year! We are ready for a challenging 2016 season with some tough opponents getting ready to challenge us on the polo field. We are thrilled for the challenge as we continue to proudly lead the legacy of bringing polo back to Hong Kong”.
Singapore 7-6 HK win
Korea 5-3 HK win
Taunton (UK) 5 – 1/2 Taunton / UK win Beijing 12 – 11 HK win
Thailand – 3 – 3 Draw
In February 2016 the HKPT appeared at the Longines Masters together with Shanghai Tang and the Hong Kong Polo Association (HKPA).
Dave Savage spoke at the Shanghai Tang tent together with HKPT player Raphael le Manse de Chermont of the trilling progress of the HKPT:
“Asia World Polo have worked tirelessly to produce and promote the awareness of the ‘Sport of Kings’ in Hong Kong with our ultimate goal to return polo to Hong Kong permanently with a Polo Club and full facilities. We are very grateful to our sponsors, the Hong Kong Polo Association and especially Shanghai Tang for showcasing some excellent level professional polo at the Hong Kong Masters in the form of the Shanghai Tang Polo Cup. This will be first time in nearly 30 years that Polo has been played in Hong Kong and we hope this the start for a bright new future for the sport and for a new generation of fans and polo players.”
Captain Patrick Furlong commented on the 2015 Season and the 2016 Season ahead:
“Since we launched HK Polo Team in Nov 2014 we have had a fantastic run in terms of competition, exposure, and plenty of opportunity to find our best style of play. The team has 10 very committed players, which gives us a very solid pool to work from, with a core of four players and sufficient depth to present a strong side. I have been pleasantly surprised at finding more and more HK players around the world, which are all very excited about our legacy of bringing polo back to HK. The growing support from our sponsors and a highly charged pool of players gives me confidence that 2016 will be a great year for the HK Polo Team!”
With solid support from Asia World Polo and the team’s passionate sponsors the team are scheduled to play six tournaments this season with the first in February in the Philippines.
2016 SEASON LINE UP OF PLAY (CURRENT)
27th & 28th February | Alabang Polo Club, Philippines (COMPLETED) April | Singapore Polo Club (TBC)
June/July | KL Polo Club, Malaysia
September | Reignwood PC Beijing (TBC)
October | Korea Polo Club
December | Thai Polo Club, Pattaya (TBC)
Plans for a HK Town Club, Polo Club in Nansha (near Guangdong/Shenzhen border) are in play together with onward discussions regarding a suitable site for Hong Kong Polo Club and Riding Centre.
The Hong Kong Polo Association are fully supportive of Asia World Polo’s and HKPT’s efforts to promote the return of polo to Hong Kong as the officially governing body and encouraging new and existing players to support the cause.
The HKPT continues to support the RDA, a charitable cause and furthers its commitment to young riders.
HK POLO TEAM (HKPT)
CAPT. Patrick Furlong – Argentinian (2g)
Lynly Fong – HK born in (0g) (voted best female player in Asia 2015) Kwan Lo – HK born (-1g)
Aron Harilela – HK born (1g)
James Bean – South African HK PR (0g)
Jono Gabler – Australian – HK PR (1g)
Raphael le Manse de Chermont – HK PR (0g)
Russell Tyre – British HK PR (0g)
Paul Chow (HKPA) – HK born (0g)
Richard Cameron – Australian (-1g)