The Russian team retained the Ivan The Terrible Twilgiht Polo Trophy last Saturday, after a narrow win over a Guards Polo Club team on The Queen's Ground. This popular event, which is in its fifth year, takes its name from the fact that it is played at 6pm, as the light fades from the main grounds of Smith's Lawn. The sponsors of this event, Ivan The Terrible, a leading make of vodka, had invited an eclectic mix of Russians and and Britains to watch this game and then enjoy a delicous dinner in the Clubhouse. Faces among the crowd in the grandstand included leading fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, who had rung the office earlier in the week to ask what to wear, and pop singer Jamiroquai.

The game itself saw the scores level at the end of the first chukka with two goals apiece. The home team then pulled away in the second and looked to have a comfortable 4-2 lead. The Russians were struggling to get into the game as they had suffered a last-minute team change. Twilight polo regular Hernan Traverso was unable to play due to injury so his place in the team was ably taken by Adolfo Casabal.

The visitors started to gel in the second half. Maybe it was the half-time team talk that did the trick - or maybe it was a shot of vodka all round - but the Russians were back in contention by the end of the third, closing the gap to 4-3. They then scored once in the third which was once more than the Guards team did. The Russians then dominated the fourth and final chukka, scoring three times to win the game 6-5.

Guards: Guy Schwarzenbach (1); Ed Htcham (4); Peter Webb (5); Clive Reid (0). Russia: David Geovanis (0); Misha Rodzianko (1); Alejandro Traverso (5); Adolfo Casabal (4).