The Malaysian Open Polo Tournament this year was a very good tournament and a good season-ender to the RMPA International League.  The eight teams were very well matched and while there had to be winners and losers, the matches were always quite close and there were surprise results, like III Lounge beating Jogo Polo for their first win of the season.

The ground at Putrajaya was not very well liked by the players.  Most of the pros lamented the deterioration of what was a top class field when it was first built.  But allowing the grass to grow long means that it is a difficult to hit through the longer grass.  The longer grass length also seems to discourage “meshing” of the grass along the ground, and the softer carpet effect is now gone.

Watering at night is always best, not in the middle of the day when it is very hot.  The sunshine going through the water droplets on the grass can actually burn the grass as the droplets work as a prism shooting the sunlight through.  The ground was watered two hours before the Malaysian Open Final, yet was very active, with a lot of bounce.

It is disappointing that what was once the best ground in Malaysia is so poorly maintained by the park operators.  Perhaps they do not appreciate the nuances of ground maintenance, not being polo players themselves.  Yet you would expect that they appreciate that this is actually a government built facility and that, as operators who were given the place, they need to do the very best they can to maintain it to the excellent condition that it was in when it was handed over.

The RMPA Polo Season isn’t over yet, as there is a last Merdeka League Tournament for the year.  It starts at RSPC this Saturday.  A new record was set with nine teams entered.  This is the most ever teams in an RMPA League tournament.

Next season’s dates are already set for the RMPA International League.  The other calendar dates will be agreed on shortly and published soon.  Polo is obviously booming in Malaysia, and it is great to see so many positive people playing tournament polo, because it is obvious that competitive polo has led the surging interest in the sport of kings.

Many players are looking to play polo overseas.  Some will go to Argentina during our off-season.  I know of some who are excited to play in Australia and New Zealand.  I’m planning to play in New Zealand next January and possibly in March as well.  It is a great country and the polo and horses are very good.  I’m sure it will help raise my game.  Anyone want to come with me?