As Chennai soaks in the fervour unleashed by the cricket world cup, a fact many residents may not know is that around the 1960s and 70s, it was polo that was the pride of Madras.
As the city soaks in the fervour unleashed by the cricket world cup, a fact many residents and even sports enthusiasts may not know is that around the 1960s and 70s, it was polo that was the pride of Madras. Every year, between September and October, the city played host to some of the best polo players from across the world in tournaments such as the Kolanka cup (which holds a Guinness record of being the tallest sports trophy at six feet), Bobbli cup and the South Indian Gold Vase.
The city’s eminent polo player Buchi Prakash says, “Before independence, many kingdoms had polo teams. The military too trained officers to take up the sport. Polo is a game that requires deft horsemanship and these skills were crucial when cavalry was one of the important components of an army.”
Hailing from the first family of sports in Madras, the Buchi Babu clan, Prakash says polo is almost a family heirloom that has been handed down through seven generations. He recalls, “It was in Gymkhana Club that my father (M.V. Prakash) and grandfather played polo. Island grounds and the Chettinad Palace (now the MRC Nagar area) were other haunts.”
The Madras Riding Club and Madras Polo and Riding Club (MPRC) however popularised the sport among civilians. N.V. Ravi, president of the Madras Riding School says, “While the Madras Riding Club did have polo and bicycle polo, it was only with the MPRC set up by M.V Prakash, A.C Muthiah, M.A Chidambaram and M. A. M Ramaswamy that polo truly gained the spotlight. They even managed to get the world renowned polo champion Col. Maharaj Premsingh of Jodhpur to train aspiring sportsmen in the game.”
Kishore Futnani, who runs the Chennai Equestrian Academy, was trained by Premsingh. He fondly remembers the words of his late coach before his first tournament, “I was all of 15 and he said to me, ‘I’ve taught you all you need to know to play, so now all I can say is when you’re in the field ask yourself ‘what the hell am I doing?’ If your answer is ‘nothing’ then that’s your cue to do something – hit the ball or stop your opponent from doing so.” Futnani says that these words have held him in good stead, even off the pitch.
Four decades on, the sport barely has a presence in the sporting landscape. Experts say only an investment in infrastructure and funding can revive the glory of polo.
In the 1960s and 70s, Chennai was home to a thriving polo culture
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Nitya Menon / Chennai – February 20th, 2015
We lived in Madras from 1962 – 68 and rode daily with the Madras Riding Club in Guindy Park at 6 a.m. We rode in the amateur Gymkhana Races held on the racecourse at the end of the professional season. The Madras Police and the teaplanters from High Range also entered their horses. We don’t remember any polo and certainly never went to a match. The old polo ground at the front of the Governor’s Residence was occasionally used for “troop drill” run by our President Govind Swaminadhan, but just for us for fun. The ground was still flat and bare, being grazed by the chital deer, but not in polo playing condition.
There was another Riding Club in the city so perhaps they played polo.