The Alpine snow season opened its big chapter at the weekend. In Kitzbühel, Team Allianz won the 23rd Bendura Bank Snow Polo World Cup, beating Team Pommery 8-6.5 in the final on Sunday 18 January.
Allianz take the Kitzbühel title
The tournament ran from 15 to 18 January. Allianz were Philipp Müller, Raul Laplacette Jr and Nacho Gonzales, and Gonzales was named most valuable player. James Beh took the amateur MVP award. Team S. Pellegrino finished third in the Kitzbühel Cup, Team AIX fifth in the Country Club Cup, and Bentley beat Engel and Volkers for seventh place in the AIX Cup.
Snow polo is played with a larger, brightly coloured ball and fewer players, three a side, so one fast pony or one clever penalty can swing a match. A two-goal margin in a low-scoring game is quite a statement.
Desert polo in AlUla
On Saturday 17 January, Team Defender beat Team AlUla 9-8 in the final of the AlUla Desert Polo Trophy at the Mohammed Yousuf Naghi Equestrian Village in Saudi Arabia. Defender’s line-up included defending champion Pablo MacDonough. Team Dadan beat Team VISA 9-6 in the Wooden Spoon final, and Team Budget beat Team BSF 7-5 in the Subsidiary Cup final.
Dubai and Hickstead
- UAE Federation Cup: UAE beat Bhansali 7-6 at the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club on 17 January. Bhansali led for the first two chukkas before UAE took control in the third. Lukin Monteverde was MVP.
- Hickstead arena polo: at the All England Polo Club, Great Britain beat the USA 12-11 in the SUPA Intercollegiate Match, and England beat the USA 17-11 in the Bryan Morrison Trophy, their first win in that fixture since 2023.
The England win is a nice start for the home arena season. Arena polo remains the best way for most of us to get close to the game in the British winter, with the ponies right in front of you and the action never far from the boards.
Looking ahead
Next up is the Snow Polo World Cup in St. Moritz from 23 to 25 January, where Flexjet, Standing Rock, Azerbaijan Land of Fire, Investec, St. Moritz Top of the World and Mackage are all confirmed. The final day is the one to watch, with crowds gathering on the frozen lake.
In Florida, the women’s circuit is also heating up, with the Women’s Gold Cup and then the US Open Women’s Championship to come before the Gauntlet begins.
Sources: PoloHUB, Polo Times (AlUla), Polo Times (Hickstead)
