Women all set to ride the storm India, Egypt, USA to contest Arena Cup at Hyderabad Polo Club

Fast-paced action, galloping horses and skilful women on top. That’s what is in store at the Hyderabad Polo & Riding Club when India, Egypt and USA vie for the HPRC International Women’s Arena Cup to be played under floodlights on Friday night.

The three teams will play each other in the league with the top two clashing for the coveted Cup. There’s no prize money involved. The riders are in it purely for passion and play for honour.

The Arena Cup will be followed by the ‘Battle of Sexes’ match — a mixed event on Saturday — in which players will be drafted into two teams, each with two men and four women.

USA’s Edward Armstrong and Mostafa Idris of Egypt have been designated as coaches for the two teams at the Battle of Sexes match.

The women do it against the odds. Horses for respective teams and players will be allotted by a draw of lots, which gives them very little time (about 30 minutes) to prepare and get to know the animals and tune them.

For US captain Carolyn Stimmel, this is the second trip to India. “We’re honoured and privileged. It’s so nice to be here in this lovely setting,” she said.

The Egyptians are relatively new. “We’ve been playing for only eight months now, so we are very proud to be invited for the tournaments here. We are insanely excited, something we’ve never dreamed of,” beamed

Awadalla.

“We are eight women, out of 50-60 male riders in Egypt, playing polo on mixed teams alongside the guys. It’s really cool... and they treat us just the same, which is also very nice,” she smiles.

India captain Monica Saxena is a mother of two. “We are delighted to be here and look forward to a great tournament,” she said.

The teams are in Hyderabad after playing a women’s tournament in Manipur, the birthplace of modern polo. “The state regularly hosts polo tournaments, captain

Farah primarily to highlight the preservation of the popular Manipuri Pony (which is arguably the world’s most original polo pony) whose population has been dwindling fast and one that has been declared an endangered breed,” informs L. Somi Roy of Huntre! Equine.

“There are four international and two domestic teams playing in Manipur every year. About 30 of the 40 women polo players in India are from Manipur. Hyderabad has tremendous polo heritage. We would like it to be on one of our stops, perhaps a regular one,” Roy adds.

THE TEAMS India: Monica Saxena (captain), Tanna Thoudam, Chaya Vaibase.

USA: Carolyn Stimmel (captain), Alyson Poor, Rajkumari Neelu.

Egypt: (captain), Mohamed.

Final from 7 pm at HPRC.

Farah Awadalla Mirna Wael, Alia