SSC to set up private polo facility in Hyd

Plans to start Indian arena polo league (IAPL) in India from next year

Suneendra Sports Club (SSC), a Hyderabad-based professional polo team, is in the process of setting up a private polo facility on the outskirts of the city with an investment of close to Rs 10 crore, according to its founder and captain Kanna Phaneendra.

“The idea is to promote polo and arena polo (the shorter version of the traditional sport) on a large scale than what it is at present. We have already acquired 25 acre abutting the Outer Ring Road in close proximity to the international airport. The facility should be ready in one-and-a-half years from now,” he told Business Standard.

Being set up in partnership with a luxury watch maker from Germany and a fashion brand in the UK, which are trying to set their foot in India, the proposed  facility will have a full ground (12 acre), a half ground (6 acre) and a floodlit arena polo ground (1 acre) to host matches, besides owning 15 horses to train youngsters in polo and equestrian sports like show jumping and dressage. He declined to name the two foreign companies citing non-disclosure clause in the agreement.

While a majority of the polo grounds is under the management of the Indian Armed Forces, including the 61st cavalry mounted regiment’s ground in Jaipur,  AAC in Bangalore and the Bison Polo Ground in Secunderabad, SSC’s 1,000-seat capacity project will be the third private polo facility in the country. Navin Jindal’s Jindal Steel and Power polo team already has its own facility in Jaipur, while Sahara India’s Sahara Warriors is in the process of setting up one in Pune.

Stating that the royal sport, played on horseback using long-handled mallets and a wooden ball, is slowly gaining popularity in the country, Phaneendra, son of state agriculture minister Kanna Lakshminarayana, said SSC was on the verge of starting an Indian arena polo league (on the likes of Indian Premier League and  Indian Badminton League).

“We are trying to put our efforts to convince the Indian Polo Association (IPA) on the same. We are hopeful of starting the arena polo league by next year. In the meanwhile, we are gearing up to organise the country’s first beach polo tournament in Goa in the next six months,” he said.

SSC is also in talks with the Guards Polo Club, the official team of Queen Elizabeth for exchange of players. The talks are expected to be concluded in the next three months, Phaneendra said, adding SSC had also applied for a trademark called Golkonda Tigers.