Tomorrow the BMW Polo Masters Tour starts in France with the tournament in Val d’Isère. From January 15th to 18th, 2014, four teams will battle it out for the “Les Barmes Trophy Pro-Am” at the foot of the famous ski piste “La face de Bellevarde” where the men‘s downhill in the 1992 Olympic Games and the Alpine Skiing Championship 2009 were held. Further stations of the BMW Polo Masters Tour are Megève und Courchevel.
The small arena field means that the spectators are particularly close to the action and can follow it at close hand. And it‘s not just the public who love this special atmosphere, but also the players. In Val d’Isère, the matches are played with floodlights in the evening.
There will be a number of changes for 2014: all three tournaments will be played at the same level (6 to 8 goals) for the first time and the sizes of the teams will also be standardised. In 2014, the teams will play in all three locations with three players each. Previously, Megève differed from the other tournaments by requiring a team handicap of 8 to 10 goals, as well as having four players in each team. An English team has also registered to take part for the first time: Paul Knights (0), Tim Bown (3) und Jonny Good (5) will be in the saddle for the team “Avenue Lodge”.
One week later, the BMW Polo Masters Tour will travel to Megève for its second leg from January 23th to 26th, 2014. The snow polo event in Courchevel will take place from January 30th to February 2nd, 2014, and once again form the conclusion of the BMW Polo Masters Tour. In 2014, the BMW Polo Masters Tour will once again unite the three snow polo events in Val d’Isère, Megève and Courchevel under the motto “Bring polo to the people, not the people to polo”. The renowned ski resorts are among the most popular and highly frequented winter sports venues in France.
The snow polo tournament series has long been a sporting and social highlight of the French winter sports season. Jean-Yves Delfosse, organiser of the BMW Polo Masters Tour: “Thanks to the BMW Polo Masters Tour, France has the largest number of snow polo tournaments, all of which take place in the Alps over a short period of time. The Polo Masters has thus acquired something of a wintry fame.”
The teams:
BMW (+7)
Birger Strom (+1)
Alexis Pouille (+2)
Robert Strom (+4)
Les Barmes de l’Ours (+8)
Laurent Dassault (0)
Matthieu Delfosse (+4)
Patrick Paillol (+4)
Avenue Lodge (+8)
Paul Knights (0)
Jonny Good (+5)
Tim Bown (+3)
Hexis (+7)
François-Xavier Salles (0)
Clément Delfosse (+4)
Mariano Lopez (+3)
