Indian billionaire dies during Queen's Cup polo
An Indian billionaire has died of a suspected heart attack after falling ill during a Queen's Cup polo match in Windsor.
Sunjay Kapur, patron of the Aureus polo team and an established name in the English polo scene, was the ex-husband of Bollywood actress Karisma Kapoor.
It was initially reported by witnesses that he was heard to have said 'I've swallowed something', prompting assumptions he may have swallowed a bee.
However, other people with knowledge of the situation have dismissed this theory, saying instead that he lost consciousness after bending over on his horse during a break in play.
The 53-year-old's team, which is captained by Mark Tomlinson, were playing Sujan Indian Tigers in the subsidiary final of the Queen's Cup when he fell ill. Kapur had been playing at the prestigious Guards Polo Club in Windsor.
A friend of Kapur's told Telegraph Sport: 'He will be greatly lost not only by his family and friends but the local community around his club as he employed so many people and made so many friends – he was fun kind and generous. He didn't distinguish between his grooms or high net worth friends – when he had a party everyone was invited and everyone was equal.'
Kapur was chairman of auto components maker Sona Comstar. 'A visionary leader, Kapur played a pivotal role in shaping Sona Comstar into a global mobility technology company built on innovation, sustainability, and purpose,' Sona Comstar said in a statement.
The University of Buckingham graduate took over Sona Comstar in 2015 after the death of his father, Surinder Kapur, a pioneer in the Indian auto parts industry who founded the company in 1995.
According to Forbes, Kapur, who was also a US citizen, had an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion. He had children with Kapoor prior to divorce in 2016. Kapur later married Priya Sachdev, a former model and entrepreneur, with whom he had a son. Just before his death, Kapur posted a condolence message on X about Thursday's fatal crash of an Air India flight in Ahmedabad.
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It was originally named the Household Brigade Polo Club and British Army officers of the Household Division regiments were traditionally exempt from paying its joining fee which today stands at £45,000. It changed its name in 1969 then became 'a fully civilian club' in 2000 and is now the largest polo club in Europe in terms of membership and number of grounds. The club hosts around 600 matches a year with its season starting in April each year and finishing in mid September.
