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2 0 1 2 BE I JI NG INTER NATIONAL POL O O PEN TO UR NAMEN T PRESENTED B Y

 WELCOME NOTE

Dear Guests, Welcome to the frontier of Polo! We have always believed that the horse is an international language and represents a Bridge between cultures. We could not say it better than Mr. Xia Yang when he says, polo is a bridge and bond that enhances the relationships among nations. In the Tang Dynasty, the most prosperous period in ancient China, the famous Silk Road ran through Eurasia. Many Arabian people along the road came to China to play polo, so that polo boosted the exchange among nations along the road. In Chinese modern times, some diplomatic relationships were built through sports. As for governments, they also hope to strengthen the ties among nations through sports and culture. Now Beijing municipal government is striving to develop culture, tourism, sports and so on to forge a world city. So, there is a good chance, through the cooperation between Beijing International Polo Open and British Polo Day, to promote the Sino-UK exchange and create more business opportunities. We hope you all have a great day.

The Committee of The British Polo Day

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In association with British Polo Day.

Walpole is the not-for-profit making organisation that furthers the interests of the British Luxury Industry by harnessing and sharing the collective knowledge, experience and resources of the membership. In partnership with over 165 of the most exemplary British luxury brands including Backes and Strauss, Churchs, Gleneagles, Guards Polo Club, Hackett London, Johnstons of Elgin, Quintessentially and Smythson and cultural bodies such as the V&A, Hurlingham Polo Association and the Royal Opera House. Our remit covers a range of activities including cross-industry networking, business development, Government lobbying and thought-leadership. Walpole continues to foster entrepreneurs and emerging talent with our Brands of Tomorrow and Crafted Mentorship programmes.

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TIMETABLE
13:00 - Taittinger Champagne Reception 14:00 - Opening Ceremony 15:00 - Silver Cup 15:00 - Afternoon Tea 16:00 - Gold Cup 17:00 - Prize Giving 19:00 - Gala on The Great Wall

Rickshaws at Dawn
VIP Land Rover Chauffeur Service back to InterContinental Financial Street for selected VIPs

T HE S UNNY T IM E S POL O C L UB

Mr Xia Yang Founded the Sunny Times Polo Club, The first modern polo club in China. With a coverage of 16 hectares, the club is located at The Sunny Manor in Yanqing County only 60 kilometres North of Beijing CBD. This modern garden club is surrounded by mountains on three sides and a river. This unique environment provides a comfortable climate throughout the year and wonderful clean air. In spring, the mountain ice and snow melts, leaving rich greenery and in the summer the air is cooler, a great relief from the city centre. Sunny Times Polo Club is a beautiful place to spend your holiday, riding, meeting new friends and renewing old acquaintances, and hosting business meetings. The Club has skilled staff ready to meet your particular needs. "In the West, polo is said to be an aristocrats' sport," said the 42-year-old. "We don't have aristocrats in China, but we do have a lot of people who have become very rich very quickly. I want to encourage them to behave like gentlemen, and playing polo is part of that. Mr Xia, a former architect turned property developer, has ploughed 20 million Yuan (1.8 million) of his own money into establishing China's first polo club in 2004 - and has done everything he can to make Sunny Time feel like a gentleman's Club. The walls are lined with paintings, imported from Britain, of uniformed hussars and hunting scenes. Sitting in front of a roaring log fire, while a servant stood close by topping up his tea cup at regular intervals, Mr Xia said he was drawn to polo by the romantic image of the sport. "When I saw Prince Charles playing polo on TV back in 1996, I thought he looked like a hero," he said.

"I just thought it was a very cool sport. It made me think of how people must have been in ancient times, when swordsmen rode in China."

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"We don't have aristocrats in China, but we do have a lot of people who have become very rich very quickly. I want to encourage them to behave like gentlemen, and playing polo is part of that.

Polo has been played in China since the Han Dynasty at the beginning of the third century AD. It reached the height of its popularity 700 years ago, before declining during the Qing Dynasty - a 260 year-long period during which ordinary people were forbidden to own horses. It was still part of the National Games - China's annual sporting showcase - in the 1950's but disappeared during the political upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. Bringing back the glory days is part of Mr Xia's mission. He heads the Polo Committee of the Chinese Equestrian Association and wants to see the sport played as widely as possible, with a Chinese team able to take on the likes of England and Argentina. "If polo was an Olympic sport we'd have a team already," said Mr Xia, a reference to the way China spared no expense to make sure it topped the medals table at the Beijing Olympics. "But sports grow quickly in China and I think we'll have a national polo team soon." Every year The Sunny Times Polo Club hosts The Beijing International Open [www.bjopenpolo.com] and Beijing British Polo Day [www.britishpoloday.cn]

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Fortnum & Mason Big Ben Afternoon Tea Changing the Guard Bond Street The Grand National Stonehenge The Royal Family Wimbledon The Tower of London Harrods

Polo

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Sponsor of British Polo Day, Beijing

British Army Polo, Klosters Snow Polo & British Polo Day, Dubai

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Rules of Polo
1 2

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The red player has the line, and at fair speed the grey player would be crossing the line without sufficient safety margin, resulting in a penalty against grey.

Even at a far lesser angle the grey player would still be crossing the line if he continues in that direction, and committing a dangerous foul.

When travelling in the same direction the grey player may draw level with and then force him across the line and take possession of the ball without committing a dangerous foul.

The grey player may move in parallel with the line and play a shot providing he can do so without interfering with the whites mount or causing him to check back. If grey would cross the line to the dotted position it would be a foul.

Two players riding for a ball from opposite directions in the open must both give way to the left and take the ball on their right or offside.

When two players are approaching a ball in the open from different directions, the player (red), with the line of the ball on his offside, right hand side, has right of way.

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T E A MS AN D P L AY E R S
NEW ZEALAND 1. Simon James McDonald 2. Jonathan David Wade 3. Aaron Noel Vowles 4. Dryden Power TOTAL (2) (3) (4) (3) 12 MONGOLIA 1. Uuganbayar Bold 2. Myagmarjav Adiya 3. Byambasuren Adya 4. Bilguun Buyanjargal TOTAL (-) (-) (-) (-) N/A

CHINA PIAGET 1. Xia Yang 2. Wu Zhiwei 3. Craig Wilson (Augustin Anzorreguy) 4. Nicolas Vinent TOTAL (0) (0) (6) (4) (2) 12

BRITISH EXILES 1. Ben Vestey 2. Nick Britton Long 3. George Meyrick 4. Stuart Wrigley TOTAL (2) (3) (5) (0) 10

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THE ART OF ENGRAVING EXCELLENCE

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32 Simon James McDonald Jonathan David Wade Aaron Noel Vowles Dryden Power (2) (3) (4) (3)

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NEW ZEALAND
;1890 19300 113 6 chukkas chukka The New Zealand Polo Association formed in 1890, one year after Captain Savile (Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General) presented a trophy to be played for annually by the Polo clubs in New Zealand. Still played for as the national club championship, the Savile Cup is one of the oldest sporting trophies in New Zealand. There are 19 polo clubs throughout the country, and 300 handicapped players. Each polo club is part of one of the three Regional Associations: Northern, Central and South Island. Most clubs have one or two polo grounds and play two or three times a week from November to the end of March. In the North Island the majority of games are six chukkas except at the lowest grades; the South Island play mainly four chukka matches.

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Uuganbayar Bold Myagmarjav Adiya Byambasuren Adya Bilguun Buyanjargal

(-) (-) (-) (-)

 MONGOLIA

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1875 Tuerto 1888Hurlingham1892 Asociacin G. A.19241936 Gazzotti There is nowhere on the map that feels as remote and other worldly than the steppes of Mongolia. The absence of any physical structures and towns for hundreds of miles, and the abundance of roaming herds of wild livestock makes this place one of the planets most untouched natural landscapes. The Mongolian people give hospitality a new meaning with their openness, warmth and simplicity of life, whilst displaying wondrous skills not just as horsemen but as archers, wrestlers, dancers and mealtime storytellers. Their proud history helped shape the history of our civilisations today. Polo in Mongolia takes place on smaller, hardier horses than the finer thoroughbreds that now populate todays game. Animal & rider form a compact unit and the style of play is ferocious, hard riding & big hitting. Beautifully crafted Yhurts or Ghurts (round Mongolian tents) house the nomads who play at The Ghengis Khan Polo Club all year round, in a epic landscape that is entirely untouched by the modern world. If you seek an experience in polo that speaks to a time & place from a thousand years ago, head straight to Mongolia. The Mongolian Polo Federation has a handicapping committee, but since no local team has ever played abroad, their handicaps are not recognised internationally.

British Polo Day India 2011

Although the ancient sport of polo began in Persia and China many centuries ago, the British reinvented the modern game in the nineteenth century. Sir Winston Churchill, one of the greatest proponents of the game, once famously said a polo handicap is a passport to the world and polo is still thriving everywhere it is played, from Argentina to New Zealand. British Polo Day carries on the tradition of the British playing polo against friends in a host of different countries around the world.

www.britishpoloday.com

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Xia Yang Wu Zhiwei Craig Wilson Augustin Anzorreguy Nicolas Vinent

(0) (0) (6) (4) (2)

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CHINA
G. LA COTE Piaget has always been involved in polo and it is no surprise to see them once again leading the field in the landscape of Chinese Polo. A sport, now more than ever, associated with luxury and the privilege of horse ownership. Since my childhood days, I have always been fascinated by horses, says Yves G. Piaget. On the family farm in La Cteaux-Fes, all we had was a draught horse, but it was already my favorite animal. We soon began gravitating around the world of polo, the sport of kings, a luxury hobby and a highly precise discipline. Its name carried prestigious connotations, since it involved an elite. We were exactly on target, in a world combining luxury and sport. Whats more, polo also matched our identity in technical terms. Its a high-precision sport that calls for anticipating the next move, mastering time and displaying consistent elegance whether on the field or in the grandstands. This highly sophisticated world was definitely that of our clientele.

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Ben Vestey Nick Britton Long George Meyrick Stuart Wrigley

(2) (3) (5) (0)

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BRITISH EXILES
1950Munipoor Silchar 1862 1868 1869 Hartopp10 Aldershot 10 1856190813 1970 1886 1872ClogrenaneHoraceRochfort The British Exiles are the defending champions, wining in a thrilling final in 2011. In the 1850s, British tea planters discovered the game in Manipur (Munipoor) on the Burmese border with India. They founded the worlds first polo club at Silchar, west of Manipur. Other clubs followed and today the oldest in the world is the Calcutta Club which founded in 1862. Malta followed in 1868 because soldiers and naval officers stopped off there on their way home from India. In 1869, Edward Chicken Hartopp, of the 10th Hussars, read an account of the game in The Field magazine while stationed at Aldershot and, with fellow officers, organised the first game. Then known as hockey on horseback, it was played on a hastily-rolled Hounslow Heath where a shortlist of about 10 rules was also hastily assembled. But, it was John Watson (1856-1908), of the 13th Hussars, who formulated the first real rules of the game in India in the 1870s.

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T H E INTERCO NT I NE NTA L LON DON PARK LA NE . PR OUD S PONS O R OF BR ITISH POLO D AY.

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T he I nt er C ont i nent a l L ondon P a rk L a ne s t a nd s proud l y a t Nu mb er O ne P a rk L a ne, s u r rou nde d b y L ondons f i ne s t s hop s a nd f a mou s a t t r a c t ion s . We prov ide ou r g ue s t s w it h t he b e s t L ondon h a s t o of fer, but of cou r s e re a l lu x u r y now a d ay s i s more t h a n i mp e cc a ble s er v ice. S o we encou r a ge a l l ou r p e ople t o s h a re t hei r k now le d ge of L ondon w it h you s o t h a t you get more f rom you r s t ay w it h u s .

D o y o u l i v e a n I n t e r Con t i n e n t a l l i f e ?

Pl ea s e call u s on +44 (0) 20 7409 3131 Or vi s it u s on www. london.interc ontinental.c om

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TROPHIES AND PRIZES

The Trophies are a wonderful souvenir of this unique tournament in the shadow of The Great Wall of China. Win or lose guest players will be pleased to place China on their list of polo destinations. There are few clubs that can boast an after-party on one of the world's most iconic wonders and once the event is over and the excitement has subsided the trophy will remain in the 4 corners of the world, a wonderful reminder of experiences on the frontier of polo and the global development of this incredible sport. The prizes are kindly provided by Johnston's of Elgin and Ettinger.

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HISTORY OF THE GAME

Polo is perhaps the oldest game in the world having been played over 2500 years ago - and is truly international. The name polo is said to have been derived from the Tibetan word pulu, meaning ball.

S O

ANCIENT POLO
In 600 BC the first recorded game of polo took place between the Turkomans and Persians. The Turkomans won. Polo began as a training game for cavalry units, usually the kings guard or other elite troops. To the warlike tribesmen, who played it with as many as 100 to a side, it was a miniature battle. Persian literature and art give us the richest accounts of polo in antiquity. Ferdowsi, the famed poet-historian, gives a number of accounts of royal polo tournaments in his 9th century epic, Shahnameh (the Epic of Kings). In the earliest account, Ferdowsi romanticizes an international match between Turanian force and the followers of Siyvash, a legendary prince from the earliest centuries of the Empire. The game spread into North India. In fact Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the first Muslim

Emperor of North India, actually died accidentally in 1210 playing polo. From Persia, in medieval times polo spread to the Byzantines (who called it tzykanion), and after the Muslim conquests to the Ayyubid and Mameluke dynasties of Egypt and the Levant, whose elites favored it above all other sports. Notable sultans such as Saladin and Baybars were known to play it and encourage it in their court. Polo sticks were features on the Mameluke precursor to modern day playing cards. Polo was passed from Persia to other parts of Asia including the Indian subcontinent and China, where it was very popular during the Tang Dynasty and frequently depicted in paintings and statues. The Moguls were largely responsible for taking the game from Persia to the east and by the 16th century the Emperor Babur had established it in India. Polo was revived in Japan by the 8th Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751) and was played until early 20th century. It was the favourite sport of the last Shogun who surrendered power to the Emperor in 1868.

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Sir Winston Churchill Old Harrovian

Tang Dynasty painted pottery figurines playing polo (unearthed in Shaanxi Changan)

MODERN POLO
The modern game of polo, though formalized and popularized by the British, is derived from Manipur (now a state in India) when British tea planters discovered the game in Manipur (Munipoor) on the Burmese border with India and established the first polo club in the world at Silchar, west of Manipur in 1862 In 1869, Edward Chicken Hartopp, 10th Hussars, read an account of the game in The Field, while stationed at Aldershot, and, with brother officers, organised the first game - known then as hockey on horseback- on a hastily-rolled Hounslow Heath against The 9th Lancers. The 1st Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards were quick to follow suit on grounds at Hounslow and in Richmond Park; and then on a small ground near Earls Court known as Lillie Bridge. The first polo club in England was Monmouthshire, founded by Capt. Francis

Tip Herbert, 7th Lancers, at his brothers seat, Clytha Park, near Abergavenny in 1872. In 1875, the first official match in Argentina took place on 3rd September, where the game had been taken by English and Irish engineers and ranchers.

Prince Philip playing polo

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Join the british polo day around the world

As British Cavalry Officers travelled the four corners of the earth, they learnt to play and love polo, spreading the game from Argentina to Australia. Polo is thriving everywhere it is played. British Polo Day celebrates the heritage of the game in each country, reviving some of the old rivalries whilst bridging cultures, in a quintessentially British Day. www.britishpoloday.com British Polo Day Singapore, September 2012 British Polo Day Mexico, November 2012 British Polo Day India, December 2012 British Polo Day East Africa, January 2013 British Polo Day Thailand, February 2013 British Polo Day Dubai, March 2013 British Polo Day Abu Dhabi, April 2013 British Polo Day France, July 2013 British Polo Day United Kingdom, June 2013 British Polo Day Germany, July 2013 British Polo Day USA, August 2013 British Polo Day Russia, September 2013

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BRITISH POLO DAY

Simon Ledger

PERSONALITIES
Master of Ceremonies
Simon Ledger is a retired Lt Col in the British Cavalry regiment, The Light Dragoons. He joined the Army in 1975 and has served all over the world including Northern Ireland, UK, Germany, Norway, Cyprus, the Middle East and Kosovo. Playing polo since 1976, he has run the Tidworth PC as well as the Cyprus Polo Association and the CSPA. He began commentating in 1987 (polo, eventing and race calling) and since 1994 has commentated for all the major polo tours at Tidworth PC, Guards PC, Sandhurst and all British Polo Days worldwide. Chairman of the Army Polo Association since 2003; he organises all Army Polo activity.

Stuart Wrigley
Patron/Player - British Polo Day
Stuart - and his Rhinos team plays every year in the Dubai Silver Cup. This is the end of his third full season in Dubai. He started playing in Jan 2010 having never ridden before. He has since played levels up to 15 goals. Now he is 0 goals and patron of Dubai based team Rhinos and has played with British Polo Day in China, Dubai, Thailand and France. He has also played in Argentina, Spain, the UK, Korea, and Switzerland. Stuart looks forward to playing again for his alma mata here at British Polo Day China.

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George Meyrick
Player - British Polo Day
George has played regularly in Argentina and, since 2006 and has had his own string of horses and a small breeding programme there. Elsewhere, he has played in South Africa, Sotogrande, St. Tropez, Chile, Amsterdam, Dubai, Florida and India, as well as Sierra Nevada for snow polo. George has represented England in two World Cup Tournaments, both times winning the European Championship. This year he has played in two England test matches and captained Young England on two occasions, including on International Day

Ben Vestey
British Polo Day Managing Director
Ben was born into a polo mad family and began playing with his two sisters when he was 8 years old. He has played for England in the winning team at The European Championships and reached the semifinals of The British Open Gold Cup. During his subsequent military career, Ben was captain of the Regimental and Army Polo teams. After five-years with The British Forces Foundation a military Charity dedicated to boosting the morale of British servicemen and women as well as managing all UK sales for the family vineyard Coombe Farm Estate Wines, Ben was lucky enough to be invited to play for both Eton & The Army in Jodhpur towards the end of 2011.

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PARTNERS

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info@britishpoloday.com - +44 (0) 207 352 0340 - www.britishpoloday.com