SAMUT PRAKAN, THAILAND Polo, the ancient team competition typically played on horseback, is known as the sport of kings. However, the royal version for one annual event, now underway in Thailand , swaps the horse for the kingdoms national symbol - the elephant. The Kings Cup Elephant Polo tournament in Samut Prakan is all for a good cause.
The star athletes of this tournament are 51 teenage females, each weighing about three tons .
Mounted on each elephant on the polo field are two relatively miniscule humans - the mahout, who steers, and the player, who gives directions.
This is the 13th year the tournament, created and organized by the Anantara resort hotel chain, has been played in Thailand. The only other games played under the auspices of the World Elephant Polo Association are the annual world championships in Nepal.
For those who also participate in the more conventional version on horseback, the slower game of elephant polo requires a significant adjustment, as Dubai-based player Wael Soueid, explains.
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