Al Habtoor Royal Windsor, Mountbatten & Prince Phillip Cups
On Sunday 24th June the Al Habtoor Royal Windsor Cup was held at Guards Polo Club providing onlookers a day full of heart racing, powerful and unpredictable polo. The imposing final day trophy was as history dictates presented by HM The Queen. This tournament is ranked as a premier medium-goal in the English polo calendar. It has been played at Guards Polo Club since 1955
This competition usually features more than 25 teams and so even qualifying can be seen as a achievement. The subsidiary match to this tournament is the Mountbatten Cup which is also played on the Finals day.
Teams incorporating of Guards members who do not qualify for the quarter finals can also enter into the Prince Philip Cup. Many of the participants consider winning the Royal Windsor as the pinnacle of their career due to the strength of the competition.
The equestrian joys do not end with the final whistle of the match. A carriage driving procession, organised by the British Driving Society, parades in front of the Royal Box.
The Al Habtoor Royal Windsor Cup Tournament is sponsored by the Al Habtoor Group, which is headed up by Khalaf Al Habtoor. Who left his job with a local construction firm in 1970 and started his own company, Al Habtoor Engineering Ltd, the foundation of today’s Al Habtoor Group. The Al Habtoor Group has since grown within the UAE and is now internationally recognised through its construction, hotels, real-estate, education, automobile distribution and leasing and publishing businesses. It is one of the UAE’s most successful and respected diversified business corporations, employing over 40,000 people.
The winners of this year tournament where the Rothermere family’s Ferne Park who walked away with the prestigious Al Habtoor Royal Windsor Cup at Guards Polo Club, defeating Kassem Shafi’s Shalimar 9-8. Neither team had won this tournament before so were determined that it was their patron who stepped forward to receive the winners’ prizes from HM The Queen and Mr Khalaf Al Habtoor, Founder and Chairman of the Al Habtoor Group.
By Emb Hashmi
