Wepa World Series - 2002 round up

“WEPA WORLD SERIES”   2002 ROUND UP

THE 21ST ANNIVERSARY OF WEPA WAS AN AUSPICIOUS YEAR IN WHICH THE WEPA WORLD SERIES FURTHER ESTABLISHED ITS STATUS AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING SPORTS EVENTS. BOTH SRILANKA AND THAILAND CELEBRATED THEIR 2ND BIRTHDAYS WITH THE SEASON CULMINATING IN THE GRAND 21ST OF WEPA AT TIGER TOPS, NEPAL IN DECEMBER.

THE WEPA WORLD SERIES 2002 ATTRACTED THE PARTICIPATION OF 24 TEAMS IN TOTAL, A NEW WORLD RECORD FOR THIS GROWING SPORT.

IN ADDITION WEPA CELEBRATED THE CROWNING OF TWO FIRST TIME WINNERS ON THE 21-YEAR-OLD CIRCUIT, THESE BEING TEPC SRILANKA AND THE  MERCEDES GERMANY TEAM. WE ALSO SAW MORE MONEY BEING RAISED FOR CHARITIES THAN IN ANY PREVIOUS YEAR, AND NEPAL BROUGHT SOME MUCH NEEDED GOOD CHEER FOR THE HOME COUNTRY WITH THEIR FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY FOR 4 YEARS.

IN THE WORDS OF FRANK, “2002 WAS, INDEED, A VERY GOOD YEAR”.

SRILANKA – FEB’2002

THE YEAR BEGAN IN FEBRUARY WITH THE TAPROBANE TROPHY, THE ONLY BEACH WEPA TOURNAMENT IN THE WORLD, AND HOSTED IN SRILANKA BY THE SRI-LANKAN ELEPHANT POLO ASSOCIATION ON THE BEACH OF WELIGAMA OFF THE SOUTHERN SRI-LANKAN COASTLINE.    A QUITE ENCHANTING SETTING WITH TAPROBANE ISLAND PROVIDING THE ULTIMATE CLUBHOUSE AND HOME FOR WHAT WAS A MOST CONVIVIAL

START TO THE WEPA SEASON.

THIS WAS THE 2ND YEAR FOR SEPA FOLLOWING LAST YEAR’S INAUGURAL TEST MATCH TOURNAMENT BETWEEN SRI-LANKA (CEPA) AND NEPAL (WEPA), AND SAW THE ARRIVAL OF 6 TEAMS INCLUDING THAILAND, CHIVAS REGAL, SRI-LANKA, ENGLAND, HONG KONG AND AN INTERNATIONAL LADIES TEAM.

SRILANKA, THE LOCAL FAVOURITES, EVENTUALLY PREVAILED AS THE  CHAMPIONS HAVING SLAUGHTERED THAILAND IN THE SEMI’S AND THEN ENGLAND IN THE FINAL.  TRACES OF ‘ELEPHANTEERING’ HOWEVER WERE EVIDENT IN SOME KEY MATCHES  – AND FOLLOWING LENGTHY DISCUSSIONS, THE SEPA COMMITTEE DETERMINED TO MAKE A POINT OF MINIMISING SUCH CONTROVERSY FOR 2003 THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MAHOUT INCENTIVE SYSTEM AS USED IN NEPAL.

WHEN THE FAT LADY SUNG, HOWEVER, SRILANKA WERE  DESERVED VICTORS UNDER THE CANNY CAPTAINCY OF SEPA GRAND TUNKU AND PRESIDENT MR GEOFFREY DOBBS, ALONG WITH HIS ABLE COMPANIONS THE SILVER FOX (RAJ KALAAN) AND ‘FLASH’ DOM MOYNIHAN, BOTH EX-5 GOAL PLAYERS FROM THE MORE WELL KNOWN HORSE APPLICATION OF THE GAME.

THE SEPA WEEK WAS EQUALLY MEMORABLE FOR A STRING OF FINE EVENING EVENTS, VERY PROFESSIONALLY ARRANGED TO ENTERTAIN BOTH PLAYERS AND THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS ALIKE. STARTING WITH ‘THE HAPPY BANANA’, THEN ON TO THE MOYNAHAN VILLA COCO ‘BOB DYLAN’ HOUSEPARTY, AND THE OFFFICIAL LAUNCH OF ‘THE DUTCH HOUSE’. ALL THIS CULMINATED WITH THE GRAND TAPROBANE CALYPSO SEPA BALL HOSTED BY GEOFFREY DOBBS ON TAPROBANE ISLAND ITSELF. THIS WAS PURPORTED TO HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST SOCIAL EVENT SEEN IN THE SOUTH SINCE THE LANDING OF ADMIRAL NELSON IN GALLE IN 1806, WITH THE COLOMBO 7 CROWD DOWN IN FORCE INCLUDING HIS HIGHNESS MOHAN TISSANAYAGAM OF JAFFNA. 

A FINE TOURNAMENT INDEED TO KICK OFF WEPA 2002, WITH MOST TEAMS COMMITED TO RETURNING IN 2003, GERALD BEING THE STAR ELEPHANT, AND BOTH CNN AND BBC WORLD SERVICE PROVIDING EXCELLENT COVERAGE TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD.

THAILAND – SEPT’ 2002

THE ANANTARA RESORT AND SPA PLAYED HOST TO THE  2ND ‘MAJOR’ OF THE 2002 WEPA WORLD SERIES, WITH 10 TEAMS GATHERED IN HUA HIN FROM ALL CORNERS OF THE GLOBE INCLUDING GERMANY, THAILAND, SINGAPORE,  AUSTRALIA,  NEPAL, SRILANKA  AND 2001 DEFENDING ‘KING’S CUP’ CHAMPIONS CHIVAS REGAL.

THE KING’S CUP TOURNAMENT BEGAN WITH A SPECTACULAR ‘OLYMPIC STYLE’ TEAM PARADE. TWENTY RESPLENDANT ELEPHANTS WITH TEAM MEMBERS ABOARD PROUDLY CIRCUMVENTING THE BRAND NEW PURPOSE-BUILT ELEPHANT POLO GROUND AT HUA HIN, COURTESY OF HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THAILAND.

THE KING’S CUP WAS AN EXTREMELY WELL ORGANISED WEEK WITH AN EXCELLENT STANDARD OF CONSISTENT ELEPHANTS MAKING FOR SOME GREAT POLO. IT ALSO SAW BOTH CHIVAS REGAL AND MERCEDES BRING TOP POLO STARS IN FROM BOTH INDIA AND HAMBURG IN ANGAD KALAAN (CHIVAS), AND THE WINTER BROTHERS (GERMANY). VETERAN DOUBLE WORLD CHAMPION JAMES DU VIVIER WAS ALSO PULLED IN BY MERCEDES

TO ADD EXTRA DEPTH TO THEIR DEFENCE.

DESPITE THE PRESENCE OF DU VIVIER AT No’3, THE OPENER ROUND ONE MATCH SAW CHIVAS BEAT THE HIGHLY FANCIED GERMANS IN A SPECTACULAR START TO THE TOURNAMENT. THIS CURTAIN RAISER WAS FOLLOWED BY SOLID PLAY FROM THE NEPALESE AND THAI TEAMS WHICH SAW THEM BOTH THROUGH TO THE SEMI-FINALS.

NOBLE EFFORTS BY SANDALFORD AUSTRALIA AND SINGAPORE WERE LATTERLY REWARDED BY PLAY OFF VICTORIES IN THE LOWER TIER CUPS, WHILE THE SURPRISE PACKAGE ALL LADIES SCREWY TUSKERS TEAM CAME IN 5TH, BEATING HOTLY FANCIED SRILANKA IN THE 5TH  PLACE PLAY OFF. A BAD DAY INDEED FOR THE GRAND TUNKU OF TAPROBANE AS SRILANKA  WAS HUMBLED IN ONE OF THE GREATEST UPSETS IN WEPA HISTORY.  

A TENSE SEMI BETWEEN KING POWER, THAILAND AND GERMANY WITNESSED MUCH ACTIVITY FROM THE 3RD UMPIRE, EVENTUALLY RESULTING IN A COMPREHENSIVE WIN FOR THE WINTER BROTHERS.

IN THE OTHER SEMI, CHIVAS GOT INTO AN EARLY STRIDE AND SMOOTHLY ROLLED OVER NEPAL DESPITE THE PRESENCE OF POLO LEGEND A.V.JIM EDWARDS ON THE NEPAL TEAM, AND TEPA HOST CHRIS STAFFORD. 

THE HOOKING IN THIS MATCH WAS A MAJOR ISSUE, RESULTING IN AN OFFICIAL WARNING TO THE ‘ENTHUSIATIC’ NEPAL TEAM.

THE FINAL BETWEEN CHIVAS REGAL AND MERCEDES GERMANY WAS A RERUN OF THE TOURNAMENT’S OPENING ENCOUNTER. BY THIS TIME, HOWEVER, THE WINTER BROS HAD CLEARLY MOVED INTO ADVANCED CRUISE CONTROL AFTER 5 DAYS OF TEAM TRAINING. THEIR COMBINED 10 GOAL RATING EVENTUALLY PROVED TOO MUCH FOR THE 5 GOAL CHIVAS TEAM – BUT ONLY JUST, AS GERMANY EVENTUALLY PULLED THROUGH 8-6 VICTORS HAVING SUPPRESSED A MIGHTY RECOVERY FROM CHIVAS IN THE SECOND CHUKKA WHICH SAW GERMANY’S FIRST HALF LEAD OF 5-2 CUT TO 7-6 WITH ONE MINUTE TO GO.  

SO, A FIRST TEPA VICTORY TO GERMANY IN THIS FEROCIOUSLY COMPETITIVE KING’S CUP EVENT. THE SUPPORT OF THE KING, THE ELEPHANT MOVEMENT, PRESS, NUMEROUS LOCAL SPONSORS AND THE ANANTARA RESORT, UNDOUBTEDLY MAKING THAILAND A MAJOR CENTRE FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS RAPIDLY GROWING SPORT. 

NEPAL – DEC’2002

THE 2002 WEPA WORLD SERIES CULMINATED IN THE 21ST ANNIVERSARY OF WEPA AT IT’S HQ, TIGER TOPS JUNGLE LODGE IN THE ROYAL CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK, NEPAL. THIS WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE AN INTERESTING YEAR GIVEN THE COMING OF AGE OF THE SPORT, AND THE JUXTAPOSITION OF THIS AUSPICIOUS OCCASION WITH LOCAL POLITICAL TURBULENCE IN THIS IDYLLIC AND ANCIENT HIMALAYAN KINGDOM.

THE GOOD NEWS WAS THAT WEPA CONTINUED DESPITE THE MAOIST PROBLEMS, AND PLAYERS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD ONCE AGAIN DESCENDED TO THE MECCA OF ELEPHANT POLO, ALTHOUGH SADLY THE USA WAS NOT REPRESENTED FOR ONLY THE 2ND TIME SINCE 1982 WHICH WAS A PITY. NO SUCH ABSENCES HOWEVER FROM THE RESILIENT AUSTRALIAN, THAI, SWEDISH AND BRITISH CONTINGENTS WHO THREW DOWN THEIR GAUNTLETS TO BOTH THE NEPALESE POLO TEAMS HOSTING THE EVENT.

THREE CLEAR FAVOURITES EMERGED, THESE BEING THE NEPAL NATIONAL PARKS, TIGER TOPS TUSKERS, AND DEFENDING CHAMPIONS CHIVAS REGAL. EACH OF THESE TEAMS BOASTED A STAR PLAYER IN CHANDRA, JP CLARKIN, AND UDAY KALAAN RESPECTIVELY, AND THE GAMES WERE TIGHT. IN A PING-PONG SEMI-FINAL CHIVAS JUST SQUEEZED PAST TIGER TOPS 6-5 TO EUPHORICALLY BOOK A SUCCESIVE SPOT IN THE WEPA FINAL, WHILE IN THE OTHER SEMI, THE NATIONAL PARKS OUSTED THE STRONG INTERNATIONAL TIGRESSES TEAM BY A MARGINAL 3 GOALS.

MEANWHILE IN THE CHIVAS REGAL OLYMPIC QUAICH, THE TICKLES AND THE IVORIES (Australia) WON A DRAMATIC AMATEUR FINAL AGAINST HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH’S GOLDEN JUBILEE CHARITY TEAM FROM LONDON BY 2 TO 1.

THE WEPA FINAL PROVIDED THE WORLD WITH A MONSTER BATTLE BETWEEN CHIVAS REGAL AND THE NATIONAL PARKS. HAVING WON THE TOSS, CHIVAS STARTED ON THE SLOWER ELEPHANTS AND AT HALF TIME HAD RESTRICTED THE PARKS TO A 4-2 LEAD. THE ODDS WERE HEAVILY ON CHIVAS TO RECOVER THE 2 GOAL DEFICIT IN THE FINAL CHUKKA WITH THE QUICKER ELEPHANTS. THAT HOWEVER WAS NOT TO BE THE CASE AS CHIVAS MISSED 3 PENALTIES, AND THE NATIONAL PARKS DEFENDED STOICALLY FOR A HEROIC 5-4 VICTORY, ALBEIT AGAINST THE RUN OF PLAY. THE 21ST WEPA 2002 CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE WENT TO THE COLOURFUL HOME TEAM OF NEPAL FOR A MUCH NEEDED PIECE OF GOOD CHEER FOR THE EMBATTLED NATION OF NEPAL. A FAMOUS VICTORY, LATER TO BE AMPLIFIED BY A LARGE SUPPLY OF THE AMBER CHIVAS NECTAR LONG IN TO THE MOST CONVIVIAL OF TIGER TOPS NIGHTS.

ROUND UP SUMMARY

ON A CLEAR AND STARLIT NIGHT, A MEMORABLE SEASON CAME TO IT’S CLOSE WITH THE FINAL WEPA COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON DECEMEBER 13TH IN THE A.V.JIM EDWARDS TIGER TOPS BUNGALOW. THE MEETING CENTRED AROUND 2 KEY MATTERS.

THE FIRST OF THESE WAS THE MUCH WELCOMED ELECTION OF BOTH GEOFFREY DOBBS (SEPA) AND CHRIS STAFFORD (TEPA) ON TO THE OFFICIAL WEPA COMMITTEE. BOTH SRILANKA AND THAILAND HAVE PLAYED MAJOR ROLES IN THE GLOBALISATION OF ELEPHANT POLO AND WILL CONTINUE BE KEY COMPONENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS MOST UNIQUE SPORT.

THE COMMITTEE THEN DISCUSSED THE WHOLE MATTER OF HANDICAPPING AND IT WAS AGREED BY ALL THAT WEPA MUST IN PRINCIPLE REMAIN AN AMATEUR SPORT SO AS TO AVOID SPIRALLING DOWN THE SAME MATERIAL FATE AS THE AMERICA’S CUP. AT THE SAME TIME, HOWEVER, WEPA WILL CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE BOTH THE BEST PLAYERS AND THE MOST COLOURFUL CHARACTERS AROUND THE WORLD, BUT HORSE POLO HANDICAPS WILL BE NOW BE PROPERLY TAKEN IN TO ACCOUNT AND A HANDICAPPING FORMULA RECOMMENDATION WILL SOON BE PUBLISHED.

THE 2003 SEASON KICKS OFF AT TAPROBANE ISLAND, SRILANKA WEEK COMMENCING FEBRUARY 17TH, AND WILL CONTINUE IN SEPTEMBER WITH THE ANANTARA KING’S CUP IN HUA HIN, THAILAND.

THE OFFICIAL WEPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE PRESENTLY PLANNED TO BE HELD AT TIGER TOPS, NEPAL IN EARLY DECEMBER.