Mon 26th Jan 2015 England win at Seefeld in the PIPA Snow Polo Championships First event of the tour finishes in Austria The England team of Marc Aberle and Tim Ward stormed through the first leg of the PIPA Snow Polo Championships tour winning all three of their games against Austria, Germany and Slovakia in Seefeld, Austria at the weekend.  Tim Ward was seen literally jumping for joy after their final chukka as he dismounted in the pony lines Frankie Dettori-style. The three day festival of snow polo in the Olympic region of Seefeld, was also the location for the Winter Olympics in 1964, 1976 and the Winter Youth Games in 2012.  On Friday the two aside games began with England taking their first win in the tournament against the evenly handicapped German team of Chris von Eupen (2) and Joe Reinhard (2) in orange shirts. Tim Ward’s 5 goal handicap outshone the 2 goal duo in the first game of the day with a final score of 4-3. Playing for Austria, Uwe Seebacher (3), President of PIPA (Polo Instructors' and Players' Association) and Klarina Pilcher (2) took on the 3 goal team from Slovakia with a line-up of Alexandra Bencikova (1) and Ladislav Agardi (2) to win the second game of the day with a final score of 8-6. The second day opened with the losing teams from the day before (Germany vs. Slovakia) doing battle in overcast conditions. With the imminent threat of snow hanging in the air, Slovakia took a second loss in as many days and Germany revelled in their first win with a cricket score of 17-3. As the day brightened, the second game between England and Austria ended with another win for England with a score of 12-8.    The following day the two teams for the Final took to the snow where Slovakia made a valiant attempt to take on the England team, but to no avail as Tim Ward scored goal after goal. Tim Ward was clearly the fans’ favourite, eliciting the biggest cheers when he hit balls that travelled almost the length of the arena, or performed his trade-mark air shots, high above the crowd to score.    So, Marc Aberle and Tim Ward took home the trophy for the first date in the PIPA Snow Polo Championship Tour with a final score of 17-3 in England’s favour. In the Subsidiary Final, Germany and Austria battled it out in a fierce game with a final score of 5-3. The game was called off in the final chukka as fresh snowfall made for dangerous conditions for both ponies and players as Chris von Eupen took a fall but luckily no harm was done. Most Valuable Player Award went to Klarina Pichler (team Austria) and the Best Playing Pony Award went to A4, owned by A Quechua World of Polo The next date in the diary is February 27 - 1 March in Bad Gastein, Austria.   Photograph: The participating teams with winners England (center). By Martin Strickner

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