THAILAND: Elephant polo tournament in the northern province of Chiang Rai

Record ID: 185005

  • Title: THAILAND: Elephant polo tournament in the northern province of Chiang Rai
  • Date: 24th March 2010
  • Summary: CHIANG RAI, THAILAND (MARCH 23, 2010) (REUTERS) ELEPHANTS PARADING TOWARDS FIELD VARIOUS OF ELEPHANTS ENTERING FIELD POLO PLAYERS ON ELEPHANTS CARRYING FLAGS
  • Embargoed: 8th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVABDGDCTNWUQUS3G7UFJPB62GK9
  • Story Text: The annual elephant polo tournament in Thailand kicked off on Wednesday (March 24) with players from around the world displaying their skills in the unusual sport.
    Players from 15 countries, including the United States, Great Britain and Germany joined the tournament in the northern province of Chiang Rai, 815 kilometres north of Bangkok.
    The event started with a parade of traditional dancers while players from 12 teams, riding high on the elephants, entered the pitch carrying their national flags.
    While regular polo is exciting enough, the slower-paced elephant polo is a more accessible game.
    "Well the horses are very fast but there is, in my opinion, there is a lot of technique in elephant polo which makes it a very interesting game. What you will see in elephant polo is men can play, women can play, and it's a very, children can play even and we have a championship for them here. So, there's lots of options and it's easy for anyone to start. You don't have to be an expert," said Christopher Stafford, founder and president of the World Elephant Polo Association in Thailand.
    The tournament makes no restrictions on the elephant's height, weight, or sex but most of the pachyderms used are juvenile, with an average age of 15 years-old.
    The organiser said some of the elephants used in the tournament are those found abandoned on Bangkok's streets where people use them to entertain tourists.
    Each team has three players who ride on their elephants in a 100 by 60 metres (328 by 197 feet) pitch, tossing around a standard-sized polo ball.
    The rules are generally similar to traditional polo and just like in the original sport, control of the animal is paramount. A foul is committed if an elephant lies in front of the goal post or picks up the ball with its trunk, earning the other team a free hit.
    A mahout, or elephant driver, helps the players steer the jumbo animals and no more than two elephants from a team can cover half a pitch at a time. There is no gender division in the sport.
    "We feel very excited because elephant polo - you never know who's gonna win. Even though you think you have a better team, it can always go either way, cause they're many factors," said team captain of King Power, Tom Claytor.
    A World Elephant Polo Tournament is held annually in Nepal, and the Thai tournament which began in 2001 is played on a relatively small circuit.
    The games will run until March 28 in the Chiang Sean district.
    Proceeds from the event will be donated to elephant welfare causes in Thailand, where the gentle giant is a national symbol. It is estimated that Thailand has around 3,600 domesticated elephants and 1,500 wild elephants, whose survival is under severe threat.
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