Irish ladies qualify for polo World championships

ON September 22nd last, the Irish Ladies Polo team of Caroline Keeling (CEO of Keelings), Siobhan Herbst, April Kent and Ina Lalor (Irish Argentine polo player) played in the third FIP Ladies European Championships which were held in the La Mimosa Polo Club, Milan, Italy.

This was the first time Ireland had competed in the tournament and the team made their intentions be known in the first game vs England with an impressive 7.5 - 3 final score in favour of Ireland. This was to be the biggest score deficit of any of the games in the tournament.

Germany were in their sights the following day but unfortunately a hotly disputed goal awarded to the Germans ended with a German half-goal victory. This led to team Ireland being pitted against Italy in their semi-final. Ireland displayed ferocious determination and teamwork during the semi-final, taking Italy to a golden goal chukka.

Italy were awarded a 30 yard penalty in the dying minutes of the seventh chukka which they scored and this pitted Ireland once again against Germany, in the battle for third/fourth place. Ireland triumphed over Germany in a penalty shootout and came home proudly with the European bronze medal, qualifying them for the World’s next April, a huge achievement for ladies’ polo in Ireland.

Following on from this success in the Europeans, Siobhan and April have their sights on an even bigger contest – the Argentine Ladies Polo Open which is the equivalent of the Olympics of ladies’ polo. Siobhan and April will be the first two Irish players to ever compete in the history of the tournament and are fundraising in order to do so.

A celebration lunch will be held on October 31st, complete with an auction and raffle with some incredible prizes, including a €600 Berney’s Saddlery voucher and a luxury hotel stay in Powerscourt Springs. Raffle tickets (€50 per ticket) and lunch tickets (€35 per ticket) can be purchased online at www.ladiespolo.ie. Help the girls make history to showcase Irish polo on a global scale and to inspire the future generation of talented Irish polo players.