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Interview LIU Shilai, November 2022

14. November 2022

(Dr. Cinderella von Dungern on behalf of POLO+10-Magazin)

POLO+10: Why and when you started to play polo?

LIU Shilai: This is the old story. In China, the ambassador of Jordan in China, called Mr. Anmar. He was equivalent to seeing me riding my horse in an equestrian club, and then invited me to play polo. At that time, we were in a Beijing equestrian club, and then began to play Arena Polo. At that moment, there was no polo horse in China. We put some ordinary semi -blood horses, that is half of the Mongolian horse‘s half -blooded horse to polo ponies through several months training. That is how and where the story began.

Around 2003, that is 20 years ago, I went to Australia to play polo. After that I went to Argentina to learn polo. Soon after, I won the 4-goal championship of US Polo Open. The polo playing process continued with tournaments in Windsor and Guards in UK as well as the 16-goal Gstaad Gold Cup.

POLO+10: How did polo develop over the time you are playing?

LIU Shilai: I returned to China in 2009 and founded the “Tang Polo Club” in Beijing. Before that, it was about 2008, there was a polo club founded near Shanghai, the “Nine Dragons Hill Polo Club”. It was created by a local listed company investor called Qinfu Li and operated by GM Steve.

However, there was no polo field in Beijing at that moment. Therefore, I returned to Beijing to establish the first club – Tang Polo Club. The second club in Beijing was the “Reignwood Club”. A bit later, another polo club in Tianjin emerged – the “Metropolitan Polo Club”. Last year, I built another club facilities in Anping (Hebei province) because the rules how to use land which “Tang Polo Club” initially used in Beijing, were changed by government. So currently in total, we have four clubs in China.

Regarding the number of players, in the beginning, it was also only 4 polo players in total. After a few years play with the Ambassador Anmar, we went to Argentina to study polo and how to improve our skills. Two of those initial players do not play anymore, only Nan Liu and I have been insisting until now. That was the earliest 2003 situation. To this day, there should be dozens of people who play polo in China. In the early ages in 2008, only I went to play the tournament in Nine Dragons Hills Polo Club Shanghai. Few years later in Tang Polo, we could have five teams with a total of 20 players in our own club, with all Chinese players. This has developed in the past 20 years. Now, the total number of Chinese polo players should be more than thirty or forty probably, but it is just an estimation. In the Polo Association, there should be about 50 players with Handicap.

POLO+10: What is the situation now, especially due to Covid restrictions?

LIU Shilai: The Covid pandemic still has an impact on us, because the pro of Argentina can‘t come. So, for Shanghai‘s horses, there is no good training. But there is no problem for Tang Polo, because we have cultivated our own professionals, with a 2-goal and 1-goal pro. And we also have own veterinarians, horseshoeing masters, all of them trained in China by ourselves through many years. Therefore, Tang Polo Club is not affected by the pandemic, it also serves as training base for the China national polo team. But Covid is still affecting Shanghai and Tianjin a lot. Anyway, as the economy grows, the polo sport will be better and better in China in the future.

(Dr. Cinderella von Dungern on behalf of POLO+10-Magazin) POLO+10: Why and when you started to play polo? LIU Shilai: This is the old story. In China, the ambassador of Jordan…

Asia, Polo News

Tianjin VIP Member Polo Weekend in China

21. October 2021

Dr. Cinderella von Dungern, 19. October 2021

Tianjin is a second tier, coastal municipality in Northern China, around one hour car drive east from Beijing on the shore of the Bohai Sea. With a population of around 15 million inhabitants, it is one of the nine national central cities in China and has a long history as major seaport and gateway for trade. Western influence has also played an important role in this city, as it emerged from the concessional history and global trade city in the 19^th century into a modern business hub for many western companies and expatriates today. So, it is not surprising to find there since 2010 also a polo ground according to international standards. Before COVID started, the club hosted large international medium and high goal polo events with an international participation and recognition. Due to the external travel restrictions, this and last season they organized a range of national low goal events.

In mid-October, the “Tianjin Metropolitan Polo Club” hosted a low goal-tournament as part of the “Metropolitan & Nine Dragon Hill Polo Summit Score Tournament 2021”. The event was co-organized by “Polo Summit” and “Shanghai Nine Dragon Hill Polo Club” and was supported by Mixc and China Jockey Club. Shao Wenyao, chief editor of China Jockey Club National Equine Media, and Xu Zhaoyu, director of the International Department of Chinese Jockey Club visited the event.

In the impressive premises and facilities of the Tianjin polo club and after a solemn open ceremony with Maserati cars and line-up of all teams, the players fought hard and with lots of passion and enthusiasm. As temperatures were chilly for horses and players and season’s end is approaching, playing safe and healthy was most important for the enthusiastic polo crowd the match. The polo professional Cesar Hugo Palacios from Argentina Corrientes (hcp +3) joined the match and his presence on the field then made the game very high quality and fast. Hugo came to China in 2015 and is the leading coach in Tianjin. Being an active polo since more than 20 years his idea for his time in China is on the one hand to promote beginners and on the other hand, train the domestic players & horses according to international standards. Prior to his arrival in China, he has also been playing in England, Nigeria, and Ireland. Three teams played in a ‘round robin’-competition with various players from Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin. Team “Nine Dragons Hill Polo Club” won both games and became first, second prize went to the team “Polo Summit” and third place was awarded to the team “Metropolitan Polo Club”.

Polo culture in China has a long history and is an important part of Chinese horse culture. Modern polo in China began in 2005 when the first club in the country was founded by Xia Yang (Beijing Sunnytimes Polo Club). In 2019, China’s first professional standard on polo was issued, in September 2021 the first polo rulebook, the green book of modern Chinese polo rules, was published in China. With great personal efforts of a few polo pioneers many exciting national and international tournaments of various kinds took place all over the country. But still, considering its size and population, China is a country where very little polo is played. Hence, getting more polo to be played, is the challenge for its polo community. Since many years national clubs also promote the development of China’s national polo league, thus the exchange and cooperation of domestic polo clubs play a major role in offering various platforms for new Chinese polo riders to learn and compete on the field.

Muniain (Mucho) Chen is one of those early movers and he established “Polo Summit” to increase opportunities for competition between national players of all levels, so that more people will get attracted by this sport in China. To his observation, Polo is becoming more and more popular, but it requires constant efforts to enhance and keep the level and develop a professional polo culture. So, for him as the tournament’s organizer it was very important to also integrate five female polo players which is quite unique for Chinese Polo Cups. Among them, Ms. Wa Wa was also actively playing. She is the first woman polo player in China and a pioneer in her generation.

Tianjin Metropolitan Polo Club

Tianjin Metropolitan Polo Club was founded in 2010 by Goldin Group, but is now operating on its own. The club has one international standard high- goal and one training polo field as well as a sand and indoor arena. With 150 polo ponies imported from New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, and Europe it is also a leading training center in China for learning polo. Many people in Northern China start their polo career here, as they can benefit from good quality horses, facilities, and an elaborated training program.

Shanghai Nine Dragons Hill Polo Club

Shanghai Nine Dragon Hill Polo Club was founded in 2008 and has a British and Argentinean background. It is one of the three leading polo clubs in China. The club takes its’ name from a beautiful coastal parkland of Nine Dragons Hill resort and is an exclusive, private members club. The club is one hour drive from Shanghai and offers excellent facilities, two full-size polo fields and around 100 polo ponies.

Team “Metropolitan Polo Club” Michael Xu (hcp 0) Henry Tang (hcp -1) Xu (Alex) Xing (hcp -1) Man (Fatin) Li (hcp -2)

Team “Nine Dragons Hill Polo Club” Yan Kangliang (-2 hcp) Sun Kai (-2 hcp) Dr. Cinderella von Dungern (-1 hcp) Cesar Hugo Palacios (+3 hcp)

Team „Polo Summit” Hao (Wa Wa) Xinyu (-1 hcp) / Liu Yiyi (-1 hcp) Feng Laoxian (-2 hcp) / Yuan Jian (- 2hcp) Ye Yang (-1 hcp) Muniain (Mucho) Chen (0 hcp)

Umpires (in alternate order) Michael Xu, Cesar Hugo Palacios, Muniain Chen

Photos: ©Polo Summit / MPC

Dr. Cinderella von Dungern, 19. October 2021 Tianjin is a second tier, coastal municipality in Northern China, around one hour car drive east from Beijing on the shore of the…

Asia, Polo News

Polo in China is getting back: Tang Polo Club China hosted the JJ International Launch Tournament in Anping

13. September 2021

By Dr. Cinderella von Dungern

September 13^th, 2021

In ancient China, polo originated 2,000 years ago in the East Han Dynasty (207BC-AD25) when the traditional name for the game was “jiju” and peaked in the Tang Dynasty, who ruled China from 618-907 AD. Polo became the game of choice for the Chinese elite and was viewed as a form of entertainment rather than a competitive sport. Tang emperors used polo even as a tool of diplomacy.

In modern China, polo enjoyed a remarkable renaissance in the past two decades. Many clubs have opened, among them Tang Polo Club (founded 2010 by Shilai Liu, recently relocated from Beijing to Anping/Hebei), Beijing’s Sunny Times club (founded by Xia Yang), Shanghai’s Nine Dragons Club (2008) and Tianjin’s Metropolitan Polo Club (originally backed by Goldin Group, but since around two years operating on their own) with quite an active international participation, interaction and publicity. Many clubs have hosted 16-goal international tournaments with intense media coverage on their impressive grounds, and each club has imported more than 100 ponies from Australia, Argentina and Europe. Chinese players went to polo events worldwide and the sport was undergoing a resurgence in the upper classes of China. Although there are less than 100 amateurs, China seems to develop to an interesting new destination for Polo with much attention from international polo fans.

However, due to COVID restrictions, it has been a very silent polo period over the past 20 months. Since the pandemic started, the polo sport in China has been severely affected in various dimensions. Due to travel and visa restrictions, no foreign polo professionals, trainers or grooms can enter the country since more than one and a half years now. Domestic and international travel and transportation for Chinese polo players and horses are also highly limited due to national lockdowns, long isolated medical quarantine programs and many other restrictive government prevention rules that follow a zero-case policy. In addition to that, logistics for international horse transportation is challenging if not impossible. This is by far the most demanding part, as a good and high-quality polo pony is the basis for every player, especially if the player is just starting to learn or if experienced and wants to improve his/her skills. The horses that have been imported to China in the past 20 years are in excellent condition but of course are reaching their age limits. But importing new horses is extremely difficult since international cargo for horses to China is not easily available in times of Corona. Even if new horses were able to arrive in China, it would require professional international trainers and at least a few medium-goal tournaments in the country to keep the horse’s level high. A constant exposure to high quality chukkas and games would benefit both, horses and players. It seems that those restrictions for global commuting and visa permissions led to a temporary stand-still of the once exciting and very dynamic international polo scene in China.

Against this backdrop, it is encouraging to see that currently three active clubs (Tang Polo Club, Tianjin Metropolitan Polo Club and Nine Dragons Club Shanghai) have continued to host some internal low-goal tournaments and club chukkas and are constantly developing the national scene. Of course, quite a few Chinese players could play higher handicap games and every active Chinese player is longing to get back to international playgrounds and exposure soon, but if there is no other choice, pushing the domestic market is a valuable investment in the longer term. Early September 2021, a special private tournament was organized by JJ International company, hosted by Tang Polo Club at the club’s fields in Anping (three hours from Beijing), to launch the company founding with the vision of promoting polo sport allover China. With an impressive cultural side program and many distinguished visitors from Beijing and the Chinese equestrian society, polo was introduced to the audience in a refreshing way.

Due to strict COVID-limitations the selected numbers of players and games had to be rather exclusive. Eight players competed on two days in two teams (each game with four chukkas). Among the players were three very experienced Chinese polo players: Yanyang Li (hcp 0), chief editor of of the Chinese publication “Horsemanship Magazine”, Yin Bao (hcp 2), manager of Tang Polo Club and Shilai Liu (hcp 2). Shilai Liu is the top polo player in China. Among many other passions and business activities, he is founder and owner of the Tang Polo Club and China’s first member of the International Polo Association. He has played in Argentina, Australia, the US, Europe, and Thailand and is one of the main promoters to establish a legacy for polo in China.

The game was competitive but very fair. Horses and players were in perfect shape, and despite being classified as a low-goal tournament, the level of polo was high and tight. Both teams were rather equally balanced and ambitious, hence the game became very speedy and sportive. The team of Tang Polo Club finally won the tournament with a 12:10 score (6:6 the first day) and received the award from the organizer Justin Jiang, founder of JJ International.

Teams:

TANG POLO CLUB
Jiping (James) Liu (-2)
Ketu Chao (1)
Yanyang Li (0)
Shilai Liu (2)

JJ INTERNATIONAL
La A Gu (-1)
Dr. Cinderella von Dungern (-1)
Justin Jiang (0)
Yin Bao (2)

Umpire
Bao Er