On its sixth year, the FIP SNOW POLO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP remained a global affair, with the participation of six elite polo nations from six continents: Argentina, Australia, England, Hong Kong China, South Africa, and the USA. Playing host was China’s premier polo facility, the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club in Tianjin, China.
Argentina won their first ever Snow Polo World Championship after been a regular competitor since the inaugural tournament back in 2012. This year, the trophy undoubtedly belonged to the Argentina trio of Dylan Rossiter, Francisco Menendez, Santiago Cernadas and their ponies, who played hard and fast and took their chances against Hong Kong China, denying the tournament’s most successful team a fourth championship by scoring six goals to their five over a breathless four chukkas.
In the subsidiary final for third place, South Africa and England meet in a tied match where South Africa galloped out worthy winners by five goals to three.
Most Valuable Player accolade was awarded to Argentina’s Francisco Menendez, while the Best Pony award, a polo tradition, went to Gorda and Bagi.
In his closing address, FIP President Mr. Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers praised the “vision and drive” of Chairman Pan, the man behind Fortune Heights and the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, for helping to bring back the sport of polo to China, a part of its ancient heritage dating back to the Tang Dynasty.
