Anantara UAE returns to King's Cup polo tournament

Anantara Hotels & Resorts in Abu Dhabi has revealed that a team of five has been selected to represent the United Arab Emirates in this year’s King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament to be held in Bangkok.

The event will take place on March 10-13, 2016 on the Chophraya riverside adjacent to the Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort.

The annual tournament, now in its fourteenth year, has become one of the largest charitable events in Southeast Asia.

The UAE has been represented at the tournament before, and the five-strong team will once again captained by Wael Soueid, area general manager of Anantara Hotels & Resorts in Abu Dhabi.

Soueid said: “We are very excited to be representing the United Arab Emirates in this year’s King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament. Joining me on the team is Steve Thompson, Stuart Allan, Kristin Grube and my colleague Amer Braik.”

He added: "This event is less about the sport and more about raising awareness about the plight of elephants in Thailand. We are very proud to be able to be part of this amazing fundraising effort. Because it is exciting for spectators and highly entertaining for the players the event attracts enormous media attention globally, which goes hand in hand with education and awareness.”

Joining the Anantara Arabian Knights on the polo field are an additional nine teams including Audemars Piquet, Citibank, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and JW Blue. The 40 players comprises Thai celebrities, professional horse-back polo players like those from the UAE’s Anantara Arabian Knights, the New Zealand All-Blacks rugby players and members of Thailand’s cabaret Miss Tiffany.

A total of 18 elephants will be given a break from their work in tourist trekking camps in Pattaya or street life in Surin, to take part in this year’s tournament, during which they are well fed and receive essential vitamin supplements, full veterinary checks and care.

While the corporate sponsors of the overall event are in place, The Anantara Arabian Knights are seeking a team sponsor which will receive branding opportunities and a range of special privileges including accommodation and invitations to the charity gala dinner in Bangkok. Interested parties should contact Leoan Canuday at lcanuday@anantara.com

For more information about the projects which this tournament supports, click through to the next page...

Where does the money raised go?
Funds raised in the past have been used for research and clinics using elephants in therapy sessions for children living with autism; donating a gantry to help lame elephants stand and a purpose built elephant ambulance to the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre as well as donating an All Terrain Vehicle to the Government Elephant Hospital in Krabi, Thailand.

Other projects include:

• funding farmer/elephant conflict mitigation projects in three Thai and one Tanzanian National Park
• planting 4,000 trees to form an elephant proof fence in Thailand
• fully funding the protection of 18,000 hectares of standing forest in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains
• funding the roll-out of children’s educational programmes with the Thai Ministry to teach them the importance of conservation and protection of wild elephants in Thailand
• funding the world’s first Target Training Positive Reinforcement Workshops teaching mahouts and trainers throughout Southeast Asia elephant friendly training methods

World’s Only Elephant Therapy Project for Autistic Children
The King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament is Anantara’s largest charity event which funds the world’s only elephant therapy project for autistic children.

“The Thai Elephant Therapy Project is a world first and it showcases Thailand as a pioneer in the support of research into alternative therapy solutions," said Anantara director of elephants and conservation efforts John Roberts.

“Results from the project show that children displayed improved adaptive behaviour, sensory processing, postural control, balance and improved social skills, while their parents also reported perceived improvement and satisfaction with the programme.”

2016 ‘Anantara Arabian Knights’ Player Profiles

• Wael Soueid: Brought up in France and passionate about all things luxury, among them, expensive hotels, the sport of kings and Cuban cigars, 2016 marks his third year captaining the ‘Arabian Knights’ in the King’s Cup tournament.
• Stuart Allan: Originating from the UK and in Dubai since 2007, Allan is a keen polo player and has played in several locations around the world including Germany, Portugal, the UK, India, Thailand, Argentina, Chile and South Korea, in addition to Dubai. He returns to the King’s Cup for his third year.
• Steve Thompson: An internationally known polo player and coach, UK born Thompson is the founder and owner of the Dubai Polo Academy which he started in 2005. The Dubai Polo Academy was established to offer tuition to players of all levels looking for expert polo tuition using a methodolgy only found at the Dubai Polo Academy. He has included this methodology into his new book "How to Look Cool Whilst Learning Polo" which will be available worldwide in 2016. He is also known in the UAE for being the first person to train camels for polo.
• Kristin Grube: Born in Germany, Grube started horse riding at the age of seven. Based in Dubai for several years, she’s been playing in the Dubai Polo Academy for four years. 2016 marks her third Kings Cup playing for the Arabian Knights.
• Amer Braik: A keen horse rider and an active sportsman, Braik returns for the second time to the King’s Cup drawing on his experience riding camels and horses to help him on his way.