Asia's first snow polo challenge tournament in February at the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club - won by England with a 7-6 decision over Argentina - served as a dress rehearsal for the FIP Snow Polo World Cup Invitational next February. [Provided to China Daily]

The emerging sport of snow polo will showcase its World Cup in Tianjin in February - the game's popularity isn't too hard to understand, Yang Xinwei reports.

Who could resist an invite to watch the Polo World Cup - on snow? Not many. And it will not be in St. Moritz, but in China's coastal city of Tianjin.

From Feb 4-12, the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club will host the inaugural FIP Snow Polo World Cup Invitational, the first of its kind in Asia.

Twelve teams have registered to take part in the event. Zone One has Hong Kong, South Africa and the United States in League A, with India, England and Argentina in League B. Zone Two has Italy, Chile and Brazil in League C and Australia, New Zealand and France in League D. The best-placed team in Zone One plays the Zone Two second-placed team and vice versa for tickets to the final.

Over the course of the nine-day tournament there are three top-quality matches daily, and two matches daily entering the semifinals after a rest day.

The sport of snow polo was first introduced in 1985 at the resort town of St. Moritz, Switzerland. Twenty-six years ago, a handful of keen polo fans decided to experiment with a brand-new sport: polo played on snow. Since then the event has gone from strength to strength, and now draws many spectators, attracted by the passion and excitement of polo and the extremity of the conditions.

Snow polo is a modified version of polo. Games are played on a snow-packed arena surrounded by fencing keeping the ball in play. Teams are comprised of three players, as in typical arena polo. Play consists of four seven-minute chukkas (periods). The horses (polo ponies) are shod with special cleated shoes to provide better traction. The ball is larger and lighter, and bright red, to better accommodate winter conditions.

The Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow is the world's most prestigious winter polo tournament, attracting top polo players from around the world.

Argentine Marcos Uranga, the founder and president of the Federation of International Polo (FIP) said selecting Tianjin as the World Cup host was based on the fact that no sport can enjoy comprehensive development without the participation of China.

Though an early form of polo was once popular with China's upper classes during the Tang dynasty more than 1,000 years ago, the sport of kings died out almost entirely until a recent surge of interest in foreign sports seen as being high class.

A handful of polo clubs have cropped up around the country in recent years, including the Tang club in Beijing, the Nine Dragons Hill Polo Club an hour from Shanghai, and the Goldin Metropolitan club.

The number of recreational horse riders and horses in China is still small compared to other countries. But while China's fledgling equestrian sector has a long way to go to catch up with countries such as Australia, Germany, Argentina and England, there's plenty of confidence from some of those who are leading the charge.

The Metropolitan Polo Club, located in Tianjin's Xiqing District, is supervised by a team of local and international professionals. It features two standard size polo fields, stabling for 157 horses, all-weather training facilities, a riding school and a members-only clubhouse and 167-room resort-style hotel.

In February, the club hosted Asia's first snow polo challenge tournament.

"We have everything necessary to make the World Cup a successful one," said Rowland K. Wong, president of the club.

"In a very short period of time, there will be an explosion of polo," Wong said in an earlier interview. "The company would like to be on the front end of the wave, not at the end of the wave. That is why Goldin has taken such a keen interest in promoting polo, but at the same time, polo goes along with the prestige and branding."

Wong said polo would not be the only attraction for fans. During the tournament, there will also be a Nordic wonderland with a sleigh-go-around, a snowball pit, snow sled, and ice hockey, plus a market place and a music bar.

"The event is not members only. It's open to all," said Wong. "We want to make it a major Tianjin tourist attraction in winter with different levels of participation."

Still a sport for the elite, Wong's strategy for developing polo and expanding his customer base is to start with the very young.

"We would like to focus on the youth," Wong said. "This year we have hosted three summer camps for children under 18 and next year we will continue to do so.

"We want to make the Metropolitan Polo Club a focal point of family activities in Tianjin and Beijing," he said.

Wong believes: If the children come, their parents won't be far behind.