WITH just one week to go until the Asahi British Beach Polo Championship at Sandbanks, professional polo players are gearing up for the event of the season.

The countdown to the eighth championship has begun, which takes place over the weekend of July 10 and 11.

This thrilling beach polo tournament promises to be better than ever with the cream of the polo world fighting to be crowned champions.

In the run up to the event, two adrenaline fuelled sports battled it out on the beach as Peter Saville, England team captain, raced Ian Agius from the Watersports Academy along the golden sands. In a close race the pony reached the finish line by half-a-length.

Unlike traditional grass polo, arena polo is played within a smaller area with fewer players per team and games are always more physical as the players are in close proximity to each other. This year the Clogau Wales Polo Team will be playing against England, Scotland and The Barbarians hoping to hold onto their title of reigning champions.

The event also welcomes top polo universities Exeter and Bristol for the first time, who will be playing in front of record crowds on finals day. Depending on the direction of the wind, a kite surfer will also take part in the Audi versus polo pony charity race in aid of children's charity Variety.

Professional polo player Jack Kidd said: "The top polo players are really excited about returning to Sandbanks for another year to play some incredibly competitive polo on the beach and in front of a large crowd. The setting is always spectacular; I can’t wait for July.”

Beach volleyball also returns to the sand with the REVO Beach Volleyball Sand Slam 2015. This year sees the England women's team meet their Olympic qualifier rivals Greece.

And the legendary beach parties with top name DJs, DJ EZ headlining Friday with DJ Charles on Saturday, bring events to a close.

Johnny Wheeler, director of Sandpolo said: “We’re delighted to be returning to Sandbanks again. Each year the event gets better and introduces more people to the exciting game of polo."