Un deporte de 4 patas (SPA-ENG)

A 4-legged sport

This is a sport that hardly ever publishes anything in the #fulldeportes feed, at least I haven't seen it. It is not precisely because it is new, on the contrary, some indications determine that it is one of the oldest sports practiced by humanity, although its beginnings are not demonstrated.

It is assumed that it began in Central Asia more than 2,000 years ago, it was practiced by nomadic warriors from Persia and its original name was "chovgan". With time, today Iran became a national sport and acquired its characteristic as an elite sport since the wealthy classes of high society, the military, and the royal family began to practice it.

Currently, it is played on a 300 x 164-yard grass field and the teams are made up of 4 players mounted on horses, their objective is to introduce a small wooden ball propelled by a cue made of the same material into the rival fence. In case you still don't know what, I'm talking about, this sport is known as polo.

The game spread rapidly through Tibet, China, Japan, Pakistan and India. It was introduced to Europe by the English when they discovered it in Manipur, India, a region where the British had enormous tea plantations. Once it arrived on the old continent, polo spread quickly, first to Ireland and then to the rest of Great Britain. It was a matter of time before it reached the United States and also Argentina, where English influence was significant in the middle of the century. the 1800s.

It was precisely in our country where polo acquired enormous significance; here the best examples of one of the main players in this sport are bred, trained, and exported: horses or, as they are currently called, polo horses. The riders are also very important, the best players in the world have historically come from here and it is the country with the largest number of players with a handicap of 10, the maximum score given to those who practice it and which indicates the highest quality of game.

The sport is played in many countries around the world, according to the latest records in 78 to be precise, however, it has greater development and includes official tournaments in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Spain, the United States, France, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, United Kingdom, South Africa and Uruguay.

So that you understand a little more about the development in our country, of some 1,400 federated players around the world, more than 50% are in these lands where there are also foreigners who, understanding the level of competition, horses, and players, come here to improve your own game.

The world polo championship has been held since 1987 and Argentina has the highest number of titles (5), however, this tournament is very competitive and several countries have obtained the highest award, including some on several occasions such as Brazil (3). and Chile (2), with a single world champion title, include the United States and Spain, the last to obtain it in 2022.

As an example of what polo means in our country, I leave you some photographs of the Palermo Open, a unique event in the world. In one of those photographs you can see the always beautiful and current Gabriela Sabatini and in others the imposing frame of this high-level international show. In a photograph, wearing a gray cap is Adolfo Cambiasso, considered by specialists as the best player of the modern era, something like a Messi of polo.