FOUR top players from Argentina will match skills with local competitors at this year’s Scotia Private Client Group Jamaica Open Polo Tournament between April 20-25 at the Kingston Polo Club.

Four teams will participate in the equestrian event, which is sponsored to the tune of US40,000 (approx J$3.5m) by Scotia Bank.

Argentina, arguably the top Polo country in the world, will see four of its players participating on three of the teams.

Jorge Donovan, with a handicap of six, and Juan Humbert, handicapped at three, will represent team Strawberry Hill alongside locals Raymond Rousseau (1) and Jonathon Dougall (0).

Team Bin 26 will have one Argentine in Tomas Gandara, handicapped at six, and consist of Alexander Melville (2), Mark Melville (1) and Rick Wates (2).

The Scotia Private Client Group team will be headed by Jose Lartigoyen of Argentina with a five handicap and will rub horses with Minister of Energy and Mining James Robertson, handicapped at three. John Byles (2) and Craig Russell (2) complete that team.

The lone female competitor, Leslie Fong-Yee, with two handicaps, will lead the charge for the Pegasus team, which includes Shane Chin (2), Mark Wates (4) and Andy Vernon (4).

Fong-Yee, Jamaica’s female team captain, emphasised the importance of having some of the best players in the world participating.

“It is a great experience to play with these players because Argentina is the best polo nation in the world,” she said at the launch of the event yesterday at the Scotiabank Financial Centre.

Anya Schnoor, Scotiabank Group’s executive vice-president, wealth and insurance, said her organisation was thrilled to be associated with the Jamaica Polo Club.

“This is the first time we have joined with Polo in this way and we think it will be great success. Polo is a sport that is steeped in history and traditions, similar to Scotiabank Group, where we have a history in Jamaica spanning over 120 years,” she noted.

Dennis Lalor, president of the Jamaica Polo Association, thanked Scotia for sponsoring the event for the first time, saying Polo in Jamaica has become a large part of Jamaican life.

“This tournament is very important to Polo as we get players from overseas to play with our local players to create a very high standard of polo,” he said.

Polo, which is played on horses, has four players per team. The object of the game is to move the polo ball down-field, hitting the ball through the goal posts for a score.

Teams change direction after each goal in order to compensate for field and wind conditions. The match is usually played outdoors. A polo field is 300 yards long and 160 yards wide — the largest field in organised sport.

The game polo lasts about one and one-half hours and is divided into timed periods called chukkers. Each chukker is seven minutes long.