Last Sunday Chris Mathias stepped forward to receive the Al Habtoor Royal Windsor Cup from HM The Queen at Guards Polo Club following Clarita Black's win. Just six days later it was the turn of his wife Clare to receive a trophy at Smith's Lawn. The Mathias's Clarita team won the historic Ganjam Jaipur Trophy on The Duke's Ground, defeating Alan Fall and Martin Davison's Twelve Dogs 8-7. This game was played as a semi-final of the Crawford Cup and Clarita will be back in action again today in the final.
Clare received this trophy, which was first presented to the Club by the Maharajah of Jaipur some 40 years ago, from Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and Mr Eswar Ganjam, Chairman of the sponsors of this event, Ganjam. Sir Evelyn is a personal friend of the Jaipur family and was asked to make yesterday's presentations on their behalf.However, he is no stranger to Guards Polo Club though, having played at the Club for many years in the 1960s and '70s, not least winning the Queen's Cup with his Centaurs team twice - in the first year (1960) and again in 1964.
Clarita looked to have this victory all sealed up early on in the match, as they were leading 6-2 at half-time. However Twelve Dogs fought back in the second half, with Charlie Wooldridge producing some great penalty shots and some wonderful fast runs up the field. This rallying play from the blue shirts closed the gap to 8-7 on the final bell, but came too late to stop Clarita winning. However it did provide an exciting second half, which was much appreciated by the spectators, including many guests invited by Ganjam, India's oldest jewellers, to attend the event.
After the polo Sir Evelyn, Mr and Mrs Ganjam and the jeweller's VIP guests headed to the Clubhouse for a traditional afternoon tea and an opportunity to view Ganjam's latest collections, which were on display in the Club's Stick Room. A truly sparkling finale to a wonderful afternoon of polo.
Clarita: Clare Mathias, Jack Hyde, Chris Mathias, Marcus Hancock. Twelve Dogs: Martin Davison, Alan Fall, Ali Walker, Charlie Wooldridge.