Dubai: Some of the top foreign professionals from across the world will team up with the UAE’s best talent in the Beach Polo Cup Dubai 2017 presented by Nissan at Skydive Dubai on December 14-15.

First held in 2004, the Beach Polo Cup Dubai has become a regular feature on the sporting scene of the UAE under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council (DSC).

“We’ve experienced such a growth in this event since our start 13 years back. We find that there is a definite growth in the number of spectators and that is a tribute to the ever-increasing standard of players,” Gabriela Noser Katiela, Event and Tournament Director, told Gulf News.

“In addition to the high standard of polo, we have lined up a huge range of attractions and entertainment during the two days of the tournament. Perhaps, it is a bit too early but we have something very, very special happening this time,” she promised.

Leading the four-team line up as hot favourites is the Nissan Leaf Team featuring Argentinian Desert Palm Polo Club professional Matias Machado along with a rare appearance on the same team from the Albwardy brothers, Tariq and Rashid.

“We always want to win and it will be exciting to play alongside Tariq and Rashid for perhaps the first time,” Machado admitted.

“Playing on sand presents a completely different set of challenges. The surface is heavy, the ball is bigger and that means less control on the direction, and the six minutes per chukker can be quite tough on the players and ponies,” he added.

The Royal Pearls team includes Dr Piero Dillier, the European Director for the Federation of International Polo (FIP) along with Moritz Gaedecke, the German Ambassador of FIP and polo professional Lucas Labat, while the Hills Advertising team will see patrons Sam Instone and Jan Bladen alongside Argentinian pro Juan Jose Storni, who will be making his Dubai debut this time.

The Artmarine team trio of Ayaad Damouni and Rashid Al Sayegh will play along with Maxi Malacalza, who is making his fifth appearance on the sands of Dubai. “I am excited about playing along these talented players Rashid and Ayaad. We’ve always played to win and this time will be no different,” the 30-year-old Argentinian promised.

“On a surface like this [sand] sometimes luck plays an important role and I hope we have that element on our side so that we can win this year,” he smiled.

The schedule of play will be finalised over the next few days with the first match being played from 9pm on Thursday [December 14] followed by the second one at 9.45pm. The winners will meet in next day’s final that will be preceded by the play-off between the two losing sides.