Polo & More 2014
The Last Word
With Angad Kalaan
A
n extremely versatile and experienced, not to mention affable polo
player, Angad Kalaan hails from a family with polo blood running in
their veins. He was initiated into the game at the age of 16 under the
supervision of his father Col. Raj Kalaan (a former 5 goaler himself). One of
India’s highest handicapped players, he has won most of the major tournaments in India, including the Indian National Championships (20 goal) three
times and the Northern Indian Championships (20 goal) six times in as many
years. He has been a regular member of Indian national teams over the years
and even Captained the Indian World Cup team in 2007. He has played polo
extensively around the world, including some of the world’s most exotic locations; Zambia, Kenya, Thailand, Jordan, Australia, New Zealand and China,
to name a few. Apart from being an excellent horse polo player, he has also
excelled at playing the peculiar sport of “elephant polo”!
In his own words...
ABOVE: Winners of the 2009 Kings Cup Elephant Polo Championship,
Chang Rai, Thailand. From left to right Angad Kalaan, Peter Prentice,
Olivier Bottinelli, CEO of Audemars Piguet (Singapore) & Uday Kalaan
1. What was your best polo moment and why?
My first win in the 20 goal Indian Open Championship in 1997 played in Calcutta at the oldest club in the world. It was an incredible moment, as
my father having won this tournament 9 times on this very ground, was there to witness my first win of many.
2. You come from a well known polo family in India, and on 4 goals, along with your brother
Uday, are one of India’s highest handicapped players. As you only have daughters, would
you encourage your daughters to not only take up the sport, but make a career out of it ?
My Daughters are 7 and 4 yrs, . The younger one has a keen interest in horses and even gets
on and rides often . I would definitely support them if they chose to learn and play, but in India
there are just a couple of women players so I would have to send them abroad to get the exposure
needed.
3. What got you into polo? And if you had not been a polo player, what would have been
your chosen career?
I played my first chukker at age 16, late by todays professional standards. My father a Cavalry
officer played off 5 goals at his best. Uday m H[\