Goodbye Paul Clarkin
Friday, July 23rd, 2004
by Peter Abisheganaden
Unless you are a polo player, you’ve probably never heard of Paul Clarkin. This New Zealander stood out in the world of polo, not only for his outstanding play on the field, but most of all for being a true gentleman and one of the world’s nicest guys.
In England on Wednesday Paul was involved in a high goal polo wreck while playing the game he loved so much. He suffered multiple head injuries. He was flown from Cirencester to Bristol hospital and after surgery was on life support. He passed away yesterday afternoon.
I first met Paul in 1992 when we played together for the Singapore Polo Club team that beat Tanamerah to win the Rolex International. He was an outstanding horseman who could ride any horse. I remember a black pony that we played that year called “Itch” that was a very difficult ride, but that Paul played in the tournament a snaffle.
I ran into Paul again in 1995 when I was showjumping in New Zealand. I was astounded that one of New Zealand’s best polo players just happened to be jumping at the Cambridge show. Paul had taken a group of horses to the show for a bit of fun. I ended up jumping one of Paul’s horses, a big Clydey-cross in a class there.
In 1999 I was proud to see his son JP emulate his father by winning the Rolex tournament. JP is now one of the best polo players in the world.
Last November I was at Paul’s place Mystery Creek, just outside of Cambridge, trying polo ponies. We played on the same team then for the first time since 1992 and had a lot of fun. Afterwards we retired to his clubhouse where we enjoyed a few Lion Reds and reminisced about the good old days of polo.
Playing in New Zealand in March this year, I almost won the Ambassadors Tournament. There was only one team we could not beat, and that was Paul’s Great Hage team. I said to myself at the time, if I had to lose, it could not be to a nicer guy than Paul Clarkin.
The polo world has lost one of its favourites, a horseman and a real gentleman. Paul made friends wherever he went with whoever he met. It’s true to say he didn’t have a bad bone in his body. We've lost one of the truly good guys.
We send our condolences to his wife Chele and sons JP and Matt.
