Lagos Polo Club is planning to make the 2018 edition of its annual tournament the best ever. This revelation was made by the President, Adetokunbo Laoye in an exclusive chat with Polo Royals in Lagos.
The Lagos polo boss, who hinted that the annual event has already have record entries, stated that no effort will be spared in the bid to make the 2018 tournament a memorable fiesta for all.
Laoye disclosed that beyond the sport of polo, the week-long event would be used to further showcase the tourism potentials and cultural heritage of Lagos State. The prestigious fiesta galloped off February 14 and climax in the first week of March, 2018.
Tournament Manager, 2018 Lagos International polo tournament, Seyi Oyinola said the cream de la cream of the Nigerian polo community will converge on Lagos to vie for honours at the annual tournament that offers four glittering prizes and a handful of subsidiary rewards.
The major prizes at stake during the tournament to be decided over two weekends are the Majekodunmi Cup that remains the biggest cup of the tournament and one of the most revered polo titles in Africa. Others are the Open Cup, the Silver Cup and the Low Cup.
Apart from top Nigerian patrons and players, drawn from all the major polo centres in the country, professionals from Argentina, Europe and South Africa will also participate in the tournament.
Oyinola said spectators will be treated to scintillating moments, given the calibre of players that will feature for their respective clubs during the tournament.
The President also disclosed that the club had to return to the traditional month of February to hold the 2018 tournament in order to avoid the early rains that has been posing challenges recently.
Lagos polo season started late last year with the Captain’s Cup and the Xmas tourneys which were very successful and well attended.
Revered as the birth place of Nigerian polo, the noble game of kings was introduced in the country by British Naval Officers, and the game was first played in 1904 on an air strip in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Then in 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King of Germany presented a sterling silver Cup (now known as the Independence Cup) for a championship between Nigeria and the German Cameroons.
The club developed rapidly over the years, survived into the new millennium as the premiere club in Nigeria just like Lagos state which from initially being the capital of Nigeria has retained its position as the premiere state and commercial heartbeat of the nation.
Then in 2010, the Lagos Polo Club committee embarked on the most ambitious redevelopment master plan and road map to be completed within 10 years.
The major part of this ambitious project is to cater for members and their families, guests, ponies and of course the grooms, ultimately turning the Lagos Polo Club into the destination point in Lagos.
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