I visited Bukit Timah Saddle Club, Singapore for the first time in daylight in 16 years. BTSC was so much a part of my life in the good old / bad old days. I did a whole lot of racing, jumping and eventing at that club, for oh, so many years. In fact, I even did a bit of saussage there, training best with Ulrike van Zanden, and doing some really worthwhile clinics with Maria Gunther and Wolgang Niggli.
And I’m glad it’s over. Royal Pahang won the RMPA International League by two points over Thai Polo. Their virtual final came in the semi-finals of the Royal Pahang Classic. Just as it looked like it would go to sudden death overtime, Thai Polo capitulated. Royal Johor Polo Club 1 won the Royal Pahang Classic, beating Royal Pahang by a similar goal in the final. For me as RMPA’s League Coordinator, it has been a season that has been much tougher to coordinate than before.
I substituted for Dato’ Mohamed Moiz, who was supposed to substitute for HRH Tengku Sri Panglima Raja in the Terengganu Polo Club team at the Royal Pahang Classic on Wednesday. It was Terengganu’s debut in the RMPA International League. The game was against Malaysian Open winners Royal Johor 1.
Some polo players like mallets with many “knots” or “notches” on the cane on their mallets. Some believe this makes their mallets stiffer. Others think it makes them whippier at the ends where there are less knots. “Manau” cane is the type we are always led to believe is the best, but some suppliers have been making their canes out of “batu”, which they say is “better”.
It’s not often you see a penalty 5b scored from the centre of the field. At RSPC that is a 140 yard shot. Martin Garrahan (7 goals) did it last year. Alejandro Vial-Peres (6 goals) hit one at the RSPC International a couple of weeks ago. Those are the only two I had seen with my own eyes.
Till yesterday.
Aliya and Farouk Khan had their definitive book on contemporary Malaysian art launched yesterday by the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Dato’ Haji Muhyiddin bin Mohd. Yassin. The Minister of Tourism, Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen was also present and took to opportunity to promote Malaysia by association with the Aliya and Farouk Khan (AFK) Collection.
It is great to be back at Iskandar Polo Club. This picturesque Ipoh club hasn’t seen a polo tournament since pre-Nipah virus outbreak in 1998. Polo died in Ipoh as they lost a lot of horses as the Nipah outbreak first started in the Tambun area.
The RSPC International returned to a much safer field at RSPC. The unanimous verdict was that after nine falls in three days, the ground at Putrajaya is not safe. Some of the photos show how the ground just blows apart like powder. No horse can stay on its feet when that happens.
The RMPA International League started its 6th season in Malaysia this week. The RSPC International barely got underway with only two chukkas of the match between RJPC1 and Thai Polo before it was stopped by heavy rain. The decision was then taken to shift the tournament to Putrajaya Equestrian Park for the first weekend.
RJPC1 and Thai Polo played out a 6-6 draw on what was a poor Putrajaya field. The grass was still cut too long, making for sub-par hitting. Putrajaya doesn’t maintain their field well enough, allowing the grass to grow far too long when the field in not in use, which is about 350 days a year. This has a detrimental effect on the field as a whole.
It was tough to write anything these last few weeks. Every time I went to our websites, I was reminded on Al. He was so much a part of our daily lives that I will continue to miss him for quite some time.
Playing the Merdeka League tournament at Bukit Kiara was a good distraction. The tournament was a good one, despite a lot of rain on some days. The Kiara field drains well and never seems to get any slipperier. It is slippery enough when it is dry! We played 8 days of low goal polo there and by the end, the field was well ploughed.
