In front of record opening day crowds, the
2004 King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament kicked off yesterday
with its customary pageantry and colourful resplendence at the
Som Dej Phra Suriyothai military ground in Hua Hin: 14 teams
from 5 continents and 55 players from 15 countries assisted by
24 elephants and their dedicated mahouts from the Hua Hin
Elephant Village.It was an
afternoon of buoyant optimism and crowd-cheering play with the
reigning champions, Mercedes Benz Thailand, first in the saddle
against the Bangkok Bank Ladies team. Though Oliver Winter’s
team had romped to a 6-3 lead by the close of the first chukka,
the second chukka belonged firmly to the ladies. Sharona
Hurmuses and Margie McDonald proved a formidable force, keeping
the pressure on with two polished seond half goals. A potential
equaliser, which was perilously close to the German’s goal line
when the final gong sounded, had had the crowd believing that
the first surprise game of the tournament was imminent. However,
it wasn’t to be and Mercedes snuck a 6-5 victory.
2003 runners up Chivas Regal played the
second and final match of the day against the DBS Bank Ladies,
captained by Joy Sopitpongstorn. Against a backdrop of thunder,
lightening and ominous skies, the ladies put up a valiant and
tenacious fight, playing admirable defence but Chivas proved too
smooth and Captain Peter Prentice, Christian Edwards and Raj
Kalaan cruised to a 7-2 win.
Tuesday's big match is at 5pm when the New
Zealand PricewaterhouseCoopers All Blacks meet Mullis Capital, a
game which the All Blacks will be preceeding with their
customary Hakka.
In other games Australia’s Sandalford
Winery will meet the Screwless Tuskers at 9am and American
Express Thailand play Australia's Element team at 10am. The
afternoon's play features British Airways Cavalry, Thailand's
Mobile Easy team and Thai entrerpreneur William Heinecke in the
saddle at 4pm playing for British travel company Kuoni against
elephant polo founder, James Manclark's St Andrew's House
Scottish team.
Hosted by the Anantara Resort and Spa Hua
Hin, the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament continues through
Sunday 12th September. The weeks’ play schedule is available at
www.thaielepolo.com,
Programme and
pre-tournament press.
Media contact:
Diana Moxon
Email:
dmoxon@minornet.com
Tel (direct): 66 (0) 2 877 7495
Tel (cell): 66 (0)1 904 7344
