The vibrant Access Bank Day which made a wonderful return to Guards Polo Club on Saturday delivered fabulous fundraising accompanied by plenty of polo.
The pandemic had forced the Club’s banking partner to postpone their hugely popular annual event for two successive years, so this year’s Access Bank Day was particularly important.
The Access Bank Cup which traditionally mixes patrons and some of the biggest names of the game currently playing in the UK resulted in a win for Access Bank as they defeated Fifth Chukker 6-5 on The Queen’s Ground.
Ali Albwardy, founder of the Desert Palm Polo Club in Dubai and patron of the Dubai high-goal team, stepped forward to receive the trophy from HH The 14th Emir of Kano, Sanusi, Lamido Sanusi and HRH The Emir of Zazzau, Ahmed N Bamalli.
Ali, who had scored the majority of his team’s goals, also received the Best Playing Pony prize for Jasmine, whom he had played in the first and third chukkas.
Ali’s team-mate, and Access Bank Day regular, Adamu Atta, was also impressive in this match, delivering some strong runs to goal. The Most Valuable Player prize went to Fifth Chukker’s Ryk Neethling who incidentally is a South African Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer!
The first match of the day was played under a similar vibe and was a contest featuring Malcomines and Delaney for the Khalifa Cup.
Damian Duncan’s Delaney team won this match 7-6 thanks to a winning goal off the stick of Marcos Araya in the final 30 seconds of the game.
Damian was delighted to be named the Most Valuable Player in the post-match presentations which had Dr. Dere Awosika, Chairman Access Bank, Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director of Access Bank and Bode Osunkoya, Chairman of Access Corporation.
However, once again the biggest winner on the day was UNICEF as Access Bank guests were so generous with their pledges that more than $1.7 million was raised during the afternoon.
This money will go towards a raft of over 100 new and equipped classroom blocks in the disadvantaged areas of Nigeria, another part of Access Bank/Fifth Chukker’s impressive fundraising initiatives across Africa.
Team’ Line ups for the record
Access Bank :Ali Albwardy (0); Santiago Cernadas (7); Juan Martin Nero (9); Adamu Mahmoud Atta (2). Fifth Chukker:Ryk Neethling; Manuel Perez Altuna (2); Bartolome Castagnola Jnr (9);Guillermo Terrera (7).
Delaney:Damian Duncan (0); Rufino Merlos (1); Agustin Merlos (7); Marcos Araya (7). Malcomines: Murtala Laushi (1); Shamsuddeen Dahiru Mangal (1); Diego White (5); Alejo Aramburu (6).