ONE of the oldest and most prestigious tournaments on the polo calendar is taking place at Cirencester Polo Club this week.

The Bledisloe Warwickshire Cup is the club’s most famous high-goal trophy and features some of the top players in the game.

The semifinals took place yesterday, with Apes Hill seeing off Thai Polo in 10-5 win.

Apes Hill took an early lead going 3-0 up in the first chukka with Oaksey player Mark Tomlinson’s faultless penalty record contributing to the majority of goals in the first stages of the game.

The polo opened up later on in the game and saw a much more even second half with some impressive field goals, with a particularly good run from Harald Link taking it half the field to score.

Ralph Richardson replied though with an impressive near side under the neck and another run to make it 10-4 with just two minutes left in the last.

Nic Roldan picked up a backhand from Mark Tomlinson and took it all the way to make it 10-5, but the bell rung soon after.

The second semifinal was tightly contested by H B Polo and La Indiana, who feature both James Beim and New Zealand’s highest rated player, John Paul Clarkin.

H B Polo dominated much of the scoreboard throughout the six chukkas of play.

By the start of the sixth chukka, they were leading 8-4, but La Indiana made an impressive comeback.

They scored three consecutive field goals to cut the margin to one goal, but H B Polo replied quickly with a goal by Magoo Laprida, which seemed to seal the result with three minutes left in regulation time.

However it wasn't so and La Indiana battled back, scoring twice to tie at 9-9, sending the match into an extra chukka.

That was when Magoo picked the ball once again and ran to the goalposts to give HB the second ticket to the final.

The finals take place on Sunday and should be a close contest, showcasing some of the best talent in the sport.

Tim Keyte, Executive Polo Manager at Cirencester Park Polo Club, is thrilled by the excitement the tournament brings to the club.

“It’s a really exciting time at Cirencester Park Polo Club,” he said.

“The buzz is back around the club and we are thrilled to have some of the best teams in the world coming to compete once again for the prestigious Warwickshire Cup.

“The trophy is 121 years old this year, with so much history and heritage it is not a wonder that there is great competition for teams to get their hands on it.

“We are expecting a huge crowd again this year and hope lots of those will be local to Cirencester.”