Recently the Indian Army arena polo team delivered a gritty performance, defeating the US Military in a thrilling test match, marking their first international engagement since 2019.
The electrifying match ended with a score of 13-10 in favour of the Indian team, which was led by Lt.Col. Prithvi Singh Rathore and his buddies. This young officer is posted at Misaamari of Assam.
EXCERPT:
Q. What has been your most memorable moment on the field?
One of the most memorable moments has been this feeling of winning against US army in USA.
Q. What advice do you have for budding polo players?
I want young and budding polo players to practise hard, ride more, spend more time on the saddle, become one with the horse and then take a polo mallet in your hand.
Q. You have quite a successful stint in polo.You have a tough Army job too.How do you balance that with polo?
Balancing the act between active duty and polo has been tough in today’s competitive times..If you ask me personally , then I would say that it’s been a tough going for me, lot of sacrifices have been made, lot of balancing acts have been done but in the end I would say it’s been a satisfying journey.
Q. Does the Polo Association of India maintain henneke scale ?
No we don’t maintain Henneke scale in India.
Q. You are the Captain of the Indian Army’s polo team.Do you think if Govt give more attention in Polo then India may get more International level players?
We definitely have lot of talent in polo. Our country has produced legendary global players. Our association is giving lot of attention to nurture the young talent and giving them international exposure to develop and compete internationally. Polo is a globised sport. Talent moves around..lot of international players come to our country to play for various teams and lot of our players go outside country to play. So it’s a very symbiotic and positive global relationship when it comes to polo.
Q. Most of the common people are unaware and don’t take much interest in this game.The reason for this is that the cost in purchasing and taking care of each horse is too expensive and the gears used on the horse and riders are costly as well?
I would have agreed with this before but now we have lot of polo clubs coming across the country.. Even some school’s have riding as an activity. Cost of keeping a horse has come down. Lot of young talent is showing interest in the sport. We will see more youngsters picking up this sport soon.
Q. This game fully depends on the co – ordination between a rider and his horse .So what is the contribution of a player and his horse in a match?
Polo is a blend of everything.I would say it’s 70% horse and 30% rider.
Q. Controlling the horse and focusing the ball simultaneously while playing, how difficult it is?
It’s very difficult and that’s what makes it more interesting and that’s why it doesn’t let u sleep. Because you want to go back and improve your skills everyday.
Q. As I heard earlier it was a training game on Cavalary Unit or elite troops , then how it became a game of Royals?
Polo’s origin aren’t exactly known but it would be safer to say that the modern polo emerged from Manipur. It was taken worldwide by British army officers from Calcutta. It wasn’t always a training game or for elite troops but given the resources involved, it was mainly played by Army or the royals who had the facilities and grounds to keep the horses in that era. Later it has become game for the masses aboard and slowly and steadily it’s picking up pace in our country too.
Q.What is Indian Army ‘s contribution in Polo?
Indian army is the one who has kept this game alive in this country. After Second World War, no county was in a condition to support this sport. It was only Army’s support which kept the game alive and still today it’s army which is helping the sport grow in each and every part of the country.
Army team won a tournament outside after 3-4 decades under guidance of Colonel VS Kahlon, Secretary, Indian polo association.
“Team was practising on grass field and not in arena.Our Team was lower in experience and handicap but under the able guidance of our own north eastern commander we were able to steer the team to victory”.- *Lt. Col.Prithivi added.*
(Ms.Pratyusha Mukherjee, an Independent Senior Broadcast Journalist working for British Media with 20 years of experience in covering the east and northeast, with specialisation in Defence and Sports.She is associated with us as Editorial head of Defence & Sports. In her illustrated career she has covered many major events and achieved International and Indian media awards for Journalism)
