Congratulations to the England Women’s team who came 3rd in the inaugural Women’s World Cup held in Buenos Aires. Led by Fran Townend, supported by Emma Wood, Heloise Wilson-Smith and Millie Hughes, the team defeated Ireland and Argentina in the group games and only narrowly lost to the USA in the semi-final. This brought them up against old adversaries Italy for the third place play off. Having been narrowly defeated by Italy in the European Championships final in late September the English players were keen to get revenge. Going into the last chukka England had a healthy 2 ½ goal lead. The Italians staged a rallying comeback to lead by half a goal with seconds left to play. However, thanks to a new rule in Argentina stating that if the ball is hit before the final bell and then goes through the goal after the bell then the goal stands, Heloise Wilson-Smith was able to score the winning goal for England with the last hit of the game.
Thanks from the HPA must go to the almost entirely self-funded team and their sponsors. Under the expert guidance of Luke Tomlinson and Sarah Wiseman, with the support of the reserve players Jess Andrews, Sarah Glover and Jemima Walker, the team did English polo in general, and women’s polo in particular, proud.
