Germans Wins Elephant Polo Tournament

The German team took home gold in the King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament in Thailand. Thomas Winter and brothers Hugo und Dirk Goetz beat the Indian team led by Angad Kalaan by 5:3 on Sunday in the coastal town Hua Hin. It was the second victory in a row for Winter, who won the competition with his own brothers in 2002. Elephant polo is similar to horse polo. Players are strapped to their elephants and use eight foot (2.44 meter) long bamboo bats to shoot a small white ball into the goal. Elephants are neither allowed to lay down in front of the goal to prevent scoring nor to use their trunks to shoot goals. The Elephant Polo World Championships, which takes place every year in Nepal, will run from late November to early December. Nepalese National Parks won the title in 2002.