Lothians woman wins elephant polo World Cup

A TRAVEL consultant from Haddington has made history by leading her all-female team to World Cup victory – in elephant polo.

Sam Prentice in the World Elephant Polo Championships in Nepal. Picture: SWNS

Samantha Prentice, 45, scored all 27 goals and secured a triumph for her team, the Tigresses Polo, at the annual tournament in Nepal.

She said she was “ecstatic” after coming third in 2013 and second in 2012.

And she added it was particularly “sweet to have bragging rights” over husband Peter, 53, who is a former world champion.

She said: “I’ve been playing for 15 years now. I had no idea how good it felt to be a champion until I became one. I have to keep pinching myself.

“We had gotten so close in recent years and it’s great to finally win a tournament. We’re very competitive, but are very nice about it.

“I was very fortunate to play with such a good bunch of ladies that would get the ball to me as often as they could.”

Elephant polo involves two teams of up to four players sitting on top of the enormous animals, and is played in a similar manner to regular polo.

To keep the sport fair, teams swap elephants at half time to ensure victory does not come down to who has the better elephant.

Samantha added: “Unfortunately, we don’t have an elephant at home so it is quite difficult to train in the gaps between playing but I’d say it’s important to always keep fit.”