This new polo tournament, the Cartier International China Polo Challenge event will happen at the Tang Club in Beijing in cooperation with the Guards Polo Club from the 10th to the 14th of October 2012. Earlier the Guards Polo Club hosted the challenge at Dubai. Now the Brits have made a perennial contract with Tang Polo Club.
It was a rough summer in Beijing, with the heaviest rainfall in 60 years. But finally better weather conditions are expected. Best pre-conditions for the second half of the season at the Chinese Tang Polo Club, because The Cartier International China Polo challenge is not the only challenge the Tang Polo Club has coming up. The upcoming two months will all about tournaments. The Royal Salute Gold Cup, one of the most important tournaments in whole China, will also take place in the second half of the Polo season.
All these polo tournaments take place in one of the most prestigious Polo clubs on the world, the Chinese Tang Polo Club in Beijing. The Tang Polo Club, Beijing, was established on 10th of October, 2010 and it is currently the only club in China with properly internationally constructed polo lawns. The club has also employed professional International Club & Polo Managers to provide the top services for the members. In true historical standards Members have to be invited by the clubs Board of Advisors or an existing member.In order to ensure the exclusivity and prestige the club will only be open to members and their guests. The tournaments are regarded as notable events and are becoming a must have invite events, attracting the elite level of the Chinese and International society.
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called “The Sport of Kings”, it was started by Persians, and was popular in Iran until 1979, after which its popularity there declined sharply due to the Iranian Revolution. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team’s goal using a long-handled mallet. The traditional sport of polo is played at speed on a large grass field up to 300 yards long by 160 yards wide, and each polo team consists of four riders and their mounts. Field polo is played with a solid plastic ball, which has replaced the wooden ball in much of the sport. The modern game lasts roughly two hours and is divided into periods called chukkas. Polo is played professionally in 16 countries of which China is part now. It was formerly, but is not currently, an Olympic sport.