Schalldach praises Kenya's polo standards

Brazil's Marcus Schalldach during 10-Goal International tournament match against Kenya Duma at the Nairobi Polo Club on Friday, September 23, 2022. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Brazilian player Marcus Schalldach has praised the standards of Kenyan polo despite them beating Kenya Duma 3-1 in the opening match of Kenya International 10-Goal Championships at Nairobi Polo Club on Friday.

According to the defender, Kenyan standards are far much better than those of the South American nation but they beat their opponents from a wide pool of players and ponies.

"Your standards (Kenya) are better than ours (Brazil) but we have a wider pool of players and horses compared to Kenyans. This means we can beat you (Kenya) anytime we want because your ability in the game is limited," said Schalldach.

Both teams tied 0-0 in the first chukka before the Brazilians turned tables on their hosts in the second and subsequent chukkas.

Handicap 6 Leandro Rodriguez, a high handicap global player opened the scoring for his team before Schalldach increased the tally, all goals coming in the second chukka.

Handicap 2 Jules Camm scored the consolation goal for Kenya from assists and attacks by Archie Voorspuy (3), Izzy Voorspuy (2) and Jose Craig (2).

"This is what I implied when I said your standards are good but limited to some extent," said Schalldach.

Kenya has only between 80-100 upcoming and experienced players compared to over 800 riders cum players and thousands of ponies.

The Brazilians are touring the country after South Africa and the United States of America who all lost their matches to the Kenyan national teams.