SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL POLO TOURNAMENT 2011
Singapore Polo Club – 14 – 18 September 2011
The Singapore Polo Club is honoured to announce His Excellency, Mr. Peter Hamilton of New Zealand High Commission as the Guest-of-Honour at the Singapore International Polo Tournament Gold Challenge on Sunday 18 September. The Gold Challenge Match (10 – 12 goals) is the highlight of this prestigious tournament and will feature Team New Zealand against Team Singapore.
Ross Ainsley (5-goal) and James Watson (5-goal) both New Zealander will represent Team New Zealand. Ross was raised in Australia where he started his polo career and has played professionally in many countries; representing Australia on numerous occasions. James Watson previously played six months of the year in the U.K. (8-18 goal) and has won many major tournaments including the New Zealand Open on three occasions. Alongside local amateur players, Graham Cox, Ang Ban Tong and Lawrence Khong (0-goal), where the later two polo players competed and won a silver medal at the 2007 South East Asia Games held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Team Singapore will be represented by the Club’s resident polo professional, Sattar Khan (4-goal) and a native of Pakistan. Alex de Lisle (3-goal) from the U.K. and capped an impressive youth career by winning the British Young Player of the Year Award in 2003. Satinder Garcha (2-goal) has participated in numerous tournaments around the globe, including Argentina, England, Spain, Barbados, Russia and India. He represented Singapore in the Zone D World Cup Playoffs in Lahore, Pakistan (2003) and again as Captain of the Singapore National Polo Team that won a silver medal at the 2007 South East Asia Games held in Bangkok, Thailand. Two other local amateur players will complete this Gold Challenge: Ali Namazie (1-goal), the Honorary Secretary of the Singapore Polo Club and Ali Jumabhoy (1-goal), the youngest player in this tournament at 17 years of age.
Two top grade foreign professional umpires will also travel to Singapore for this prestigious event: Tim Keyte (U.K.) and Ru Barlow (XXX).
This 5-day prestigious tournament also consists of the Silver League (6 – 8 goals) that will feature four teams: Tata Communications Team, Veuve Clicquot Team, Vertu Team and Cigna Team. Each team is composed of four to five local amateur players and professional polo players (see enclosed Team List); with all teams competing in a roundrobin format for the Silver League title. The Silver League will be played on Wednesday 14 September and Thursday 15 September from 4.30pm onwards with the Final scheduled on Saturday 17 September (from 4.30pm onwards).
Adding to the excitement of the Singapore International Polo Tournament 2011 will be several major social eventsLive. The Singapore Polo Club Annual Ball – The Equestrian Ball, a jointly organised annual ball with Equestrian Federation of Singapore (EFS) in conjunction with this tournament, will be held at the Grand Hyatt Singapore on Friday 16 September 2011. The St. Regis Singapore, Official Hotel for the tournament, will also host a its legendary sumptuous Sunday Brunch at its luxurious venue for selected media and invited guests on Sunday 18 September 2011; prior to the Gold Challenge Match – allowing each guest to indulge in a full-day St. Regis experience.