First polo match to be held in Vietnam

09:03, 20/03/2015

The Vietnam Charity Polo Cup 2015 will be held for the first time in Vietnam on March 20 at the Golf Club and Long Thanh Urban Area in Dong Nai province to raise funds for charities and wildlife protection.

Singer Thu Minh and her husband speaks about the Polo Cup at the news briefing on Monday
Singer Thu Minh and her husband speaks about the Polo Cup at the news briefing on Monday.

The Vietnam Charity Polo Cup 2015 will be held for the first time in Vietnam on March 20 at the Golf Club and Long Thanh Urban Area in Dong Nai province to raise funds for charities and wildlife protection.

The match between Thailand Royal team and Brunei Royal team is expected to attract around 400 distinguished guests, including the UK Queen’s grandson Peter Phillips.

According to the organizer, Vietnam has spent five months and US$1.5 million preparing for the polo match.

As the game is held in the country for the first time, Vietnam has had to build a new stadium which covers six hectares and meets international standards, and transfer 16 horses from Thailand to Dong Nai.

Singer Thu Minh told a news briefing on Monday that the polo match is to raise funds for protecting and preserving wild animals and natural resources.

After watching a polo game at the invitation of the British Royal Family, the singer and her husband Otto De Jager have cooperated with Polofix, an international polo event, sponsorship consultancy and management agency, and District 360, an exclusive agent for Polofix in Vietnam, to bring a polo game to Vietnam.

At the event, the organizer will hold charity auctions of a tour package for six people on a luxury cruise ship, and a one-week vacation for two people in Singapore with world champions of the Formula One such as Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff.

All the funds raised at the event will go to the Vietnam Veteran Businesspeople Association, Stop Ivory organization, and the non-profit organization Save Vietnam’s Wildlife.

Through the event, the organizer expects to introduce the polo sport to Vietnam and lure more polo teams worldwide to choose Vietnam for their matches.

Polo is a team sport played on horseback and is popular in more than 50 countries and territories around the world. A polo match usually has six to eight rounds with each lasting seven minutes. Polo players try to drive a small plastic or wooden ball into the goal of the opposing team using a long-handled mallet.

(Source: SGT)