Seeking a polo position in growing sports market

The game of polo is attracting increasing numbers of Chinese. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Currently, there are seven polo clubs in China, spread over Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Sichuan and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, says Xia. But the number of people playing polo in China is still small.

A lack of professional management means that polo is often used by some as a means to show off personal wealth. This is one of the reasons why polo is not seeing healthy development, says Xia.

As of now, there are only a few polo competitions in China, such as the annual Beijing International Polo Open Tournament conducted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports in September and the annual Tianjin Snow Polo World Cup jointly organized by the US-based Federation of International Polo and the Chinese Equestrian Association in winter (January-February).

These events attract many foreign competitors, and while they show China's growing links with the global polo community, many Chinese players cannot yet compete at these levels because of their relatively lower rankings and skills, according to Xia.

But Xia believes polo has a great future in China.

"If people get involved in the sport they will find that is not more expensive than other equestrian event," he says.

Luan Shu contributed to the story.