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The King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament, the popular sport of kings, returns to the 'Royal Paradise' of Hua Hin, Thailand, from Monday 5th to Sunday 11th September.
Each September the Anantara Resort and Spa Hua Hin plays host to the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament, a charitable event which raises money for Thailand’s National Elephant Institute in Lampang, northern Thailand.
Organised by the Anantara Resort and Spa Hua Hin in association with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the event features some of the world’s top horse polo players. With each consecutive year, there has been growing interest in the tournament with an ever-increasing number of teams from around the world taking part in the event.
The tournament was introduced to Thailand in 2001 by Anantara Vice President, Christopher Stafford. In just four years it has gone from a small 2-day event with 6 teams into a week-long elephant polo extravaganza featuring 14 teams from 3 continents, 55 players from 15 countries and corporate sponsors which include the likes of Mercedes Benz, Chivas Regal, Nokia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, American Express, British Airways, DBS Bank and many other international companies. The 2004 event was broadcast across the USA on ESPN, was photographed for the 60-million circulation Sports Illustrated swimwear issue and was written about in newspapers and magazines across the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. The tournament has also been featured on Discovery Channel, CNN, Star TV, the UK’s GMTV morning breakfast show, Germany’s ZDF television, Australia’s Channel 9 and in glossy magazines such as Conde Nast Traveller, The Robb Report, Country Life, Polo Quarterly, Harpers Bazaar, Singapore and Hong Kong Tatler and CNN Traveler.
Tournament organiser and Anantara Vice President, Christopher Stafford, comments: “The growing interest year on year in the tournament is enormous. When we started in 2001 it was more of a weekend knock-round than a tournament. This year, just four years later, we had 16 teams plus a waiting list, a 7-day event that was broadcast around the world and the tournament has been ranked as the 6th largest event on the Thai tourism calendar. Next stop the Asian games!”
The event takes place at the Development and Resources Preservation Division (formerly known as 16th Infantry Division or Som Dej Pra Suriyothai Military Camp) on the southern outskirts of Hua Hin and is supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Spectator entrance is free of charge.
Played according to World Elephant Polo Association rules, the Thailand tournament is played with three elephants per team on a pitch measuring 100 metres x 60 metres, which is roughly one-third the size of a horse polo field. A game is comprised of two 10-minute chukkas, with a fifteen-minute interval. Information on the rules and background are available on the Thailand Elephant Polo Association website at www.thaielepolo.com.
Past winners whose names are now engraved on the King’s Cup trophy are Chivas Regal (2001), Mercedez Benz Germany (2002 and 2003) and Mobile Easy Thailand (2004).
To date the tournament has raised over US$100,000 for the National Elephant Institute, which provides medical care, sustenance, employment, welfare and mahout training to Thailand’s elephant population. It is estimated that Thailand has around 2,500 domesticated elephants and 1,500 wild elephants. This is down from an elephant population of around 50,000 in 1950 and 100,000 in 1900. The National Elephant Institute’s Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang is famous for its painting elephants and its elephant orchestra.
This year, the Gala evening "Matadors & Senoritas" will be held on Saturday 10th September at the Anantara Resort and Spa Hua Hin. This year's fund-raising goal is 2 million Baht, all of which will be donated to the National Elephant Institute by event organiser, the Anantara Resort and Spa Hua Hin.
The modern game of elephant polo was founded in Nepal in 1982 by Englishman Jim Edwards, owner of Tiger Tops lodge in Nepal and James Manclark, a former British Olympic bobsleigh competitor.
The King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament is part of the World Elephant Polo Association world series. The World Championships take place in Chitwan National Park, Nepal every December and the Ceylon Elephant Polo tournament takes place each February in Sri Lanka’s fort town of Galle.
Further information about the tournament and reservations are available on line at www.anantara.com. Information about the tournament is also available at www.thaielepolo.com.
The King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament is part of the World Elephant Polo Association world series. The World Championships take place in Chitwan National Park, Nepal every December and the Ceylon Elephant Polo tournament takes place each February in Sri Lanka’s fort town of Galle.
Elephant Polo was first played by Mogul Indian Kings and was reintroduced with a new twist in 1982 by an Englishman (Jim Edwards) and a Scotsman (James Mann-Clark) -- Polo on elephants. Since then the tournament has been played in Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Kingdom of Thailand.
ELEPHANT POLO HISTORY AND RULES OF THE GAME
Please click to view
Further information about the event, please visit
Thailand Elephant Polo Association
Web site: www.thaielepolo.com
For information on Elephant Polo, please visit the World Elephant Polo Association web site
www.elephantpolo.com
'Matadors & Senoritas' Themed gala dinner
The evening will start with cocktails at the garden area, next to lagoon rooms before moving to the fantastic live buffets dinner, enjoy the live music and dancing at the resort's beach lawn.
Tickets are available at Anantara Resort and Spa Hua Hin. For reservations can be made by phone to (032) 520 250 or by email to info@anantara.com
Anantara Resort & Spa Hua Hin
Web site: www.anantara.com
email: cstafford@anantara.com
For further inquiries and bookings, please contact:
Anantara Resort & Spa Hua Hin
Reservations Department
www.anantara.com
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ROYAL PARADISE
http://www.tatnews.org/emagazine/1209.asp
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Elephant polo photos featured in this article by Rachot Visalarnkul © Anantara Resort & Spa Hua Hin
Contact information:
Anantara Resort & Spa Hua Hin
email: cstafford@anantara.com
For further inquiries and bookings, please contact:
Reservations Department
E-mail: info@anantara.com
Tel: +66 (0) 3252 0250
Fax: +66 (0) 3252 0259
ELEPHANT POLO HISTORY AND RULES OF THE GAME
The World Elephant Polo Association established the governing rules for Elephant Polo in 1982, the association has its headquarters at the Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge in the Royal Chitwan Park in Nepal which is where the World Elephant Polo Tournament is played every year on a grass airfield in Megauly.
In 2001 two new competitions were launched - the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament in Hua Hin Thailand, organised by the Anantara Resort and Spa and held each September and the Ceylon Elephant Polo Association Championships, held on Weligama beach in front of Taprobane Island in southern Sri Lanka each February.
ORGANISATION OF THE GAME
- In Thailand the game is played with three players on each team on a marked pitch of 100 metres by 60 metres using a standard size polo ball.
- The game consists of two 7-minute chukkas of playing time, with an interval of 15 minutes. The whistle blown by the referee stops and starts the play.
- The pitch is marked with a centre line; a circle with a radius of 10 metres in the centre of the field, and a semi-circle, in front of the goals, with a radius of 20 metres, measured from the centre of the goal line at either end of the pitch which is referred to as the D.
- Elephants and ends are changed at half time.
- The scoring system awards two points to a winning team and one point apiece to teams which draw.
RULES
The rules are similar to those of horse polo but some key points to note are that the elephants have a player and a mahout, ladies are allowed to use both hands and elongated sticks of around two metres in length are used.
Additionally there are some elephant specific rules:
- Any team having more than 3 elephants in one half of the pitch is judged to have committed a foul.
- No more than 2 elephants may be in the D at one time – one from the attacking team and one from the defending team.
- There are no restrictions as to the height, weight or sex of the elephants.
- No elephants may lie down in front of the goal mouth. To do so will constitute a foul. A free hit is awarded to the opposing side from the semi-circle in front of the goal.
- An elephant may not pick up the ball in its trunk during play. To do so constitutes a foul and a free hit is awarded to the opposing team from the spot where the ball was picked up. The defending players must be 15 metres from the spot.
- Teams are made up from the pool of elephants and balanced out as fairly as possible bearing in mind size and speed of the elephant. Once the pool of elephants has been selected, each elephant is categorized and marked as A,B,C,D, E, F.
- Sugar cane or rice balls packed with vitamins (molasses and rock salt) shall be given to the elephants at the end of each match and a cold beer, or soft drink, to the elephant drivers and not vice versa.
THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF THE ELEPHANTS USED IN T.E.P.A. TOURNAMENTS IS OF PRIME CONCERN, ABUSE OF THE ELEPHANT IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE MOST SERIOUS OFFENCE.
HANDICAPPING
Handicaps are assigned by the T.E.P.A. Handicapping Committee and handicapped players may come under one of two categories
- Professional horse polo players. The handicap awarded to any registered professional horse polo player shall total half of their horse polo handicap.
- Professional and seasoned elephant polo players. A half goal handicap will be assigned to any player who has played in three or more World Series (WEPA, TEPA or CEPA) elephant polo championships anywhere in the world and does not have a horse polo handicap.
Players handicaps are decided before the tournament commences. Player handicaps may not be changed during the tournament.
Should a team's total handicap when summed result in a half goal handicap, the handicap is rounded down.
Full information about the rules of the game is available at www.thaielepolo.com
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