Australian Open Polo²⁰⁰⁸

“Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Riders score by driving a ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet.

Goals are only valid if the scoring rider is mounted. When played outdoors, each Polo team consists of four riders and their mounts. In the indoor variant ("Arena Polo"), each team fields only 3 players. Play occurs in seven-minute periods, called chukkas. Six chukkas is the normal length of play, however, depending on league rules, matches can also have four or eight chukkars. Arena Polo has 6 minute chukkas.”

Polo requires two teams of players mounted on horseback to play the game. When playing outdoors each team has four players, whereas arena polo is restricted to three players per team. The field is 300 yards long, and either 160 yards or 150 yards wide if there are side boards,these are genereraly 12"high. There are lightweight goalposts on each side of the field spread 8 yards apart. The object of the game is to score the most goals by hitting the ball through the goal.

A game is divided into periods, called chukkars (since 1898, from Hindi chakkar from Sanskrit cakra "circle, wheel", compare chakra), of 7 minutes, and depending on the rules of the particular tournament or league, a game may have 4, 6 or 8 chukkas, 6 chukkars being most common. Games are often played with a handicap in which the sum of the individual players' respective handicaps are compared. The team with the larger handicap is given free points before the start of the game.

The game begins with the two teams of four lined up each team in line forming 2 rows with the players in order 1,2,3,4 facing the umpire in the center of the playing field. There are two mounted umpires on the field and a referee standing on the sidelines. At the beginning of a game one of the umpires bowls the ball in hard between the two teams.

"The Elysian Fields are a paradisiacal land of plenty where heroic souls rest for eternity..."

This years finals fields will be closest to what most people consider "heaven" to be like. The "Elysian Fields" is a wonderful place, where everything was delightful. There were soft green meadows, lovely groves, a delicious like giving air, sunlight that glowed a soft purple and everyone was happy and peaceful.

Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Riders score by driving a ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet.

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