- 39 teams eye laurels as 120th Lagos polo festival gets underway
The Lagos Polo Club is in a buoyant mood as the 2024 NPA/ GTCO Lagos International Polo Tournament got underway to a blistering start yesterday with a promise to be the most exciting in decades as a record 39 teams jostle for top honours in the 120th edition.
The ambitious teams which are fully armed with foreign professionals and fortified with thoroughbred Argentine horses are competing for honours in the four major cups categories namely the Open Cup, the Majekodunmi Cup, the Lagos Low Cup and the Silver Cup respectively.
For the first time in the rich history of the international polo festival, the glamorous event would be decided over four weeks of bumper to bumper polo actions from January 23 -28. 2024, with five equally-matched teams jostling for the Open Cup glory.
President Lagos Polo Club, Bode Makanjuola who disclosed this at a press conference in Lagos declared that the club put everything on ground to make the 120th anniversary edition of the most prestigious polo tournament in Africa truly special.
According to the Polo Captain, Muyiwa Oni, the highly revered Majekodunmi Cup will take the center stage from January 30th –February 4th, 2024 with four from Lagos and Abuja battling for the top prize., while the third week of February 6-11, 2024 would feature 16 teams drawn from major polo centers across the country locked in battle royale for the Low Cup.
The grand finale final week that would draw the curtain on the 120th edition of the annual fiesta, will see a crowd of 14 equally matched low-goal teams slugging it out for the Silver Cup from February 13-18, 2024 in what promises to be a fitting cap to Africa’s richest polo extravaganza.
Tournament Manager, Olumayowa Ogunnusi who commended the main sponsor GTCO and other sponsors for their immense support over the years, stated that the Lagos Polo Club looks forward to delivering great values for the sponsors and participants players, invited special guests and polo buffs during the epoch fiesta.
Glittering subsidiary prizes to be won include, the Oba of Lagos, Adedapo Ojora Memorial Cup, Sani Dangote Memorial Cup, the Italian Ambassador’s Cup and the Independence Cup, Lagos He and Chief of Naval Cup, among others are also on offer during the fiesta reputed as the oldest polo tournament in the country.
Representative of the Mani Sponsor, GTCO, said the sponsorship of the 2024 NPA Lagos International Polo Tournament, which has grown over the years to become one of the most anticipated social and sporting events, is a demonstration of the bank’s strong belief in the role of sports in developing and uniting the society.”