Sport of kings: Hong Kong polo players gallop to victory in Jeju, South Korea
Led by captain Patrick Furlong, the Hong Kong Polo Team defeat Royal Salute Jeju 4-3 in pulsating final to win the Hong Kong Challenge Cup 2016 and complete their fifth international success
The Hong Kong Polo Team (HKPT) have won the final of the Hong Kong Challenge Cup 2016 in Korea Polo Country Club, Jeju, South Korea after a titanic battle in the final.
The win marked the HKPT’s fifth international win after they beat the Royal Salute Jeju and Korea BMW teams in a five chukka match.
Hong Kong defeated Royal Salute Jeju 4-3 in a closely-fought final with the winning goal scored by James Bean, who found the decider in the last 10 seconds of the game.
Hosted by J.B. Lee, the chairman of the Korea Polo Country Club, the polo matches were aired live for the first time on Facebook and YouTube. With the final match commentary narrated by seasoned English polo player Toby Copson.
In terms of post event celebrations, Macey and Sons staged a live auction with proceeds going to HKPT’s charity Riding for the Disabled (RDA).
Hong Kong captain Patrick Furlong was excited with the victory.
“What a result! Following a very tough last day of competition, against two very determined Korean teams, we fought hard for the HK Challenge Cup at the Korea Polo Country Club in Jeju. We had a strong start in the preliminary games on Friday,” he said.
“Kwan Lo [teammate] was a constant threat to the opposition’s defence and was very quick on the ball with our counter attacks. Russell Tyre and James Bean worked tirelessly in midfield, keeping a very disciplined defence attack format with good timing and covered each other during our opposition’s attack.
“We are very happy with the end result, this is our second successive victory in Korea. I’m particularly proud of the team’s attitude, discipline, focus in difficult times and our ability to adapt game plan gave us the victory today.”
