What ails the Kings’ sport

After a gruelling season of polo, Samir Suhag—one of India’s top polo players—is finally enjoying a well-deserved break. A proud Gurgaon resident, Samir is busy overlooking the construction of a new shed for his six horses that are lodged in his friend’s farmhouse at Chhattarpur.
“You need to pamper your horses and one has to be extremely careful with them. You have to ensure that they drink enough water and the grass that they eat is of fine quality besides taking care of their eating habits,” says Samir. Almost all his horses have come off the race course and he is now busy training his latest two acquisitions for polo.
“It’s very hard to train them in the blazing sun. You need to give them proper rest and also maintain their fitness level,” he says.
The game, too, has taken a hit in times of recession as there were few sponsors and tournaments. “Until two years ago, sponsors outnumbered tournaments. Royal patronage and the celeb touch the game gets in India draws many corporates towards the game. We hope it continues for the next season,” he adds.
A resident of Residency Greens in Sector 46, Samir feels that somehow Polo, as a game, hasn’t been able to take off among the sponsors and corporate, the way golf did. “In the early 90s, polo and golf started at the same level. However, after 15 years now, golf is at a different level than polo. There are no endorsements in the game like golfers have,” he says.
However, he is hopeful that things might change with celeb endorsement. Samir says, “Karishma Kapur’s husband Sunjay is a polo player. Recently, Diya Mirza and Randeep Hooda, too, have taken to riding. With the celeb quotient running high on the game, it’s high time the game gets a boost now.”
The game currently has just about 20 professionals in the country and 90 per cent of them are based in NCR and Jaipur.
Apart from training his new horses, Samir is coaching youngsters in Mumbai and Delhi. He is also looking towards western shores as polo season will start in Europe. “I am looking forward to play in Europe. Season starts in May and continues until July. Also it’s a good break for wife and kids.”
Samir wanted to join Army. His father, Maj Gen (Retd) B.S. Suhag, too, was a polo player. “I played polo when I was young, but I never imagined that I would be a professional polo player. It was Naveen Jindal who saw me playing and offered me a job in 1993 and I couldn’t resist. I was getting paid for what I liked the best.”
But he finds living in Gurgaon a bliss. “It was two years ago that I shifted from Noida to Gurgoan and the two cities are poles apart. Gurgaon is more metro, has malls, lot of golf courses, wide roads and superb cinema halls. The best part is that almost all brands are available in Gurgaon and is far less polluted than other parts of the NCR region,” he says.