World polo tour comes to China

Polo teams from China and abroad fought it out in the Beijing International Polo Open Tournament in Yanqing on Sept 22.

Organized by the Chinese government, the event was part of the world tour of the British Polo Day, which also includes competitions in Singapore, Germany and the United States.

Each polo team consisted of four players playing four seven-minute chukkers per game.

The New Zealand team won the competition, followed by the Piaget China team in second place. The Mongolia team took third spot followed by the British Exiles in last place.

As well as the competition guests at the event, who were mostly Chinese and British, enjoyed afternoon tea and an opportunity to ride horses.

Xia Yang, tournament director and chairman of Beijing Sunny Times Polo Sports Company Ltd, said: "Polo is a sport for gentlemen. Because it is so fierce and fast the players need to have self-control or it can be dangerous. It is really a sport for people with good manners."

Polo is often viewed as an elite sport, but it is not as expensive to take up as people might think, he added.

"It costs 400 yuan ($63.5) to learn polo for an hour, which is not as expensive as most people would expect. I'm trying to promote the sport by organizing activities, such as competitions," he said.