Mention polo and it transports one to the days when the royal families of India turned out in their fashionable best to enjoy this battle of mallet and ball played on horseback by their scions and rulers; When Jaipur, Jodhpur, Alwar and Patiala were not places but the world’s foremost polo players.
In the off-season, these (erstwhile) Maharajas played polo on bicycles to keep themselves fit; and thus popularised Cycle Polo in India that now has an annual national tournament.
The recently-concluded 36th National Cycle Polo Championships in Bihar’s Ara district was a revelation for sports buffs in Jharkhand. For while the teams from Services and Territorial Army proved to be way ahead of their competitors, teams like Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand also made their presence felt in the middle rungs of a unique game that was a demonstration sport at the 1908 london Olympics.
Having participated in earlier editions of the national championships in 2011 at Chandrapur in Maharashtra and in 2012 in all three categories: Senior, Junior and sub-junior, the boys and girls are now focussing on the forthcoming national qualifiers to be held in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan in September this year. For the top eight teams out of the 32 Indian States and defence association teams affiliated to the Cycle Polo Federation of India (CPFI) will compete for the top honours in the 2014 National Games in Kerala. There are eight players in each team; while four play on the ground, the remaining are reserves.
According to Jharkhand Cycle-Polo Association (JCPA) secretary Ravi Kant, “We have bettered our performance at the nationals compared to last year, and are now training hard for the qualifiers in September. A few months ago, we organised a 15-day camp where the national coach groomed our players.”
Currently, 27 male and female players from Jharkhand are registered with the national body. Senior national players Chandan Kumar Singh from Bokaro and Ram Sagar from Hazaribagh are coaching the boys; while former senior national player Sonakshi Sinha from Koderma is mentoring the girls. Incidentally, Sinha has also taken the referee qualification exams this year.
Before matches the players undergo rigorous training. For the first few days, players are trained to cycle, then to control the bicycle with one hand, with the polo stick in the other and then hitting the ball around the 150 metres x100 metres ground.
Ordinary cycles of any make and size are used, but extra attachments like mud-guards, bells, stands, carrier or gears are prohibited. Bamboo cane sticks with wooden head in 36, 34 and 32 inches- sizes and tennis balls are used.A 30 minute-international match comprises four chukkers or halves of seven-and-a half-minutes each. Senior players are allotted handicaps based on their annual form and performance in the annual handicap tournament.
However, while the players are not short of enthusiasm and energy, the fledgling state association is battling financial crunch to keep the momentum going. “We get no assistance from the state Olympic Association, even though CPFI is affiliated to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
For training and development we get some funds from CPFI and the rest is procured through sponsorships. In, fact, the team bore the travel expenses from their own pockets, when they entered in a national event for the first time,” reveals Ravi Kant.India has won gold in 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2001 in the international cycle Polo Championships; and bronze in 2002 and 2004 editions.The CPFI is now working to have the sport added to the Asian Games and Olympics.
It is also assisting the state associations to popularise the game. “We send national coaches at regular intervals to guide the state players and bring them up to par with the top-rung teams. We have also helped in procuring Polo sticks for state teams,” said Bharat Singh, treasurer, CPFI.