The prestigious final of the 2015 Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge survived a sandstorm, with the host team Desert Palm beating the UAE Polo Team 10-4.
It was the 10th anniversary of the tournament and the event’s showpiece went ahead despite 70km per hour winds battering Dubai and causing serious visibility problems yesterday.
It was a fitting end for winners Desert Palm, as the event had been staged at the Desert Palm Polo Club, and featured Rashid Albwardy, son of Ali Albwardy, considered the godfather of polo in the UAE and owner of Desert Palm.
The team, led by Alan Meeker, recorded victory by a surprisingly large margin over the UAE Polo Team, who had done superbly to overcome the previously unbeaten Cartier Red 6-5 in a thrilling semi-final on Thursday.
Neil Hobday, Chief Executive Officer of event organisers Guards Polo Club, hailed the anniversary tournament as the best in its
10-year history.
“From day one it’s been brilliant,” he said. “We’ve seen some out-of-this-world polo. It was a really fantastic final and the standard of matches throughout the tournament has been really great; full of fast, physical and skilful play.
“It’s arguably been the best tournament we’ve seen in the 10-year history.”
The final went ahead – it was pushed back by 30 minutes to 16:30 to allow for the winds and sand to settle – although the subsidiary Desert Palm Trophy played for between the third and fourth best teams from the week-long tournament was cancelled.
A sand storm has engulfed the UAE over the past two days, but conditions were particularly poor in Dubai and further north yesterday, with winds blowing dust and sand that reduced visibility to as low as 200 metres near Ras Al Khaimah Airport and around 500 metres near Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai.
The country’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) issued warnings to those venturing out as wind speeds hit highs of up to 70km per hour.
Fortunately, the tournament’s finale went ahead, with Desert Palm showing their class to maintain their 100 per cent winning record and claim the anniversary win.
Hobday said a tremendous amount of work had gone in to make sure the final day of the tournament went ahead.
“It was a challenge but a huge success,” said Hobday.
“First thing in the morning, when all the event teams got together, we realised we had a bit of a problem.
“We didn’t know how long it would last but we contacted the Dubai MET Office who were confident the wind would stop blowing sand around 15:00.
“And we also contacted the vet who said there was no possibility of the horses getting sand into their lungs.
“We were disappointed the first game had to be cancelled. It was an unusual set of circumstances but everyone worked very well to manage it.”
The tournament was held under the patronage and in the presence of HRH Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
In the Royal Box alongside HRH Princess Haya were Laurent
Gaborit, managing director of Cartier Middle East and India, Desert Palm owner and host Albwardy, Hobday, and American socialite Olivia Palermo.
HRH Princess Haya presented Amr Zedan of the Guards team with the La Martina Most Valuable Player of the Tournament Award.
The La Martina Best Playing Pony Rug was won by Ali Albwardy’s Castora, who was played by Desert Palm’s Diego Cavanagh.
The Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge is already regarded as the most celebrated tournament of the year, and the competition, standard of athletes appearing and spirit shown at this year’s special 10th anniversary event was no exc-eption.
