Held on Oct 12 at the Singapore Polo Club, the Shanghai Tang Women's International Polo Tournament finals saw the Singapore Slingers beating Elevation Polo 5-2 to emerge as winners.

The final featured top female polo players from as far as Argentina right to Australia together with our very own home-grown talent. They were certainly impressive in their polo playing skills as title sponsor Shanghai Tang's CEO, Raphael le Masne de Chermont, summed it up and said "We owe it all to women."

Polo players Justine Tan, Harpreet Bedii and Lynly Fong are three exceptional women who play polo competitively while juggling families and successful careers.

Broken ribs won't keep her down

Besides being playmaker and striker of the winning team Singapore Slingers, Justine is a consultant and mother of two off the field.

"You need a different mentality if you want to play polo or even ride horses; you need to be a bit 'cooked'," she explained, referring to the bold and daring attitude polo players must have. Her injuries through the years include torn knee ligaments and three broken ribs. Justine even had a horse fell on her once.

"Think aggressive" was admirably her approach to the tournament.

She is pleased with how the Singapore Polo Club has made the sport more inclusive throughout the years, and although it is expensive, she has the support of her family.

Justine is also planning to organise a new team with Lynly Fong to play at another tournament next year in Thailand.

Hosting her own team

Harpreet hosts her own team, Elevation Polo, managing logistical arrangements like airfare and lodging for her largely Argentinian team. She is also an intellectual property lawyer, and mother to three young children.

Although she suffered a fall "two minutes into the first chukka" on Thursday's match, she laughed it off as a "normal" occurence.

"They are fun to play with," says Ms Bedi, who is hosting the team for ten days in Singapore. "I don't want to miss the opportunity to play with such a good bunch of girls."

Sporting excellence

Standing beside her horse 'Juana', Lynly is a picture of sporting excellence defined.

An owner of a retail chain and mother of two, she plays as hard as she works. Her team - Singapore Divas - had "practised all year" for the tournament.

Her advice to aspiring polo players?

"Get on and try to play. It's a rough sport and you gotta be ready to get into contact with people and horses. I've played a lot of sports and there's nothing like this."