After the shock loss of last year’s winners King Power earlier in the week, the final match placed two stellar teams, first timers Bangkok Bank (BBL) captained by former Olympian James Manclark and Mercedes captained by Niffy Winter, head to head in a thrilling final match presided over by the King of Thailand’s royal representative, Privy Councilor Real Admiral Mom Luang Usni Pramoj.
With the crowd expecting an easy win for the experienced Mercedes team, Bangkok Bank looked strong early on in the first chukker with the combined offensive might of seventy three year old veteran player Manclark and his younger team mates, fellow Scotsman Alister Archibald and Michael Goodwin.
Mercedes star polo players, Winter and the rock solid defense of the Goetz brothers Hugo and Dirk, saw the Bangkok Bank team on the defensive but BBL still managed to out-maneuvere and out played the German team to finish the first half leading by one point 8-9.
BBL’s Alister Archibald received nearly all the scoring glory in the second chukker , batting in three goals for his team. Captain James Manclark served up surgically precise assists, and fellow professional polo player Michael Goodwin provided the same impenetrable wall in front of the goal that kept the Mercedes team on the defense for most of the game. The final score was 10-13 to novice Elephant Polo team Bangkok Bank.
The exciting event has not only been about fun and games — a generous sum of THB 4.3 million was raised for various elephant charity projects at the Anantara Hua Hin gala dinner which hosted a gathering of top dignitaries and well known celebrities the previous night.
Final Leaderboard for 2013 King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament:
1. Bangkok Bank
2. Mercedes
3. King Power
4. Audemars Piguet
5. Rueang Chang
6. Sara Story Design
7. PTT
8. Johnnie Walker Blue Label
9. Pricewaterhouse Coopers
10. Whisgars
11. Citi
12. Mekhong
13. Anantara Hotels, Resort & Spas
14. CDD The Devil
15. Arabian Knights
16. Tiffany Show Pattaya