11th December, 1997

The torrential storms during the 16th World Elephant Polo Championships held at Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge from 7th to 13th December may have left a lasting effect on the sports. After two days of heavy rains the field was so water- logged at one end that the Championships had to be completed on a shortened field with three elephants per team rather than the normal four. This new arrangement produced some of the most exciting elephant polo ever played as the games were faster and more open. It was therefore agreed that the shorter field be used in the future. A perfect example of this new game was observed during the finals when Tigers Mountain India, captained by Jim, Edwards, beat the local National Parks team 10-8 to win the coveted Tigers Tops Trophy. Tiger Tops followed this up with a magnificent win, the first in 5 years, over the Nationals Parks 3-2 in the Tigers Mountain All Nepal challenge which is played by mahouts on their own elephants.

This was the culmination of a fascinating week’s polo which resulted in the host team Tigers Tops Tuskers, captained by Kristjan Edwards, securing 3rd place after losing to Tiger Mountain India in the semi final. That semi final was particularly exciting as it was the first time that Jim Edwards, founder of WEPA and chairman of the Tiger Mountain Groups had played against his son Kristjan. Chivas Regal, a new team from the UK finished in the fourth place after losing their semi finals to Nationals Parks in a very close match which was decided in sudden death, 5-4 British Gurkha Gladiators took 5th position but were also awarded the Best Dressed Trophy for their smart red, black and green checkered polo shirts. Tiger Tops Tigresses came in the 6th and 7th place going to the much improved Screwy Tuskers team, captained by Alf Erickson from Miami, USA. 8th place went to the American Braves a new team of the year was awarded to Margie McDougal, captain of the Tigers Tops Tigresses, Who had an incredible tournament. She also earned the Chivas Regal Golden Moment Award for being the first ever players to score goals seven goals in seven minutes.

The World Elephant Polo Association Championships is an annual invitational event arranged by Tiger Tops. It is played on the polo field adjacent to Meghauly airport on the edge of Royal chitwan Nationals Parks. Each game consists of two chukkas of ten minutes playing time using elongated sticks over two meters in length and a regular polo ball. The matches were well controlled as usual by the referee chuck McDougal and umpire Pradeep Rana. The World Championships attracted the international media including coverage by Trans Worlds Sports and journalists from British Airways Highlife Magazine and the wall street Journal. The event was honored to have General and Rani Nara SUB Rana, Miss Nepal Jharana Bajracharya, Mrs Mary O’Dwyer from UK polo world and Steven Seagal the US film star to present the trophies and awards at the prize giving ceremony.