Tag: Lagos International Polo Tournament

The management of Lagos Polo Club has announced the 2026  NPA/ GTCO Lagos International Polo Tournament is set to gallop off January 27^th  with over 25 teams jostling for top honours.

President Lagos Polo Club Adeyemo Alakija who disclosed this at a media briefing, said the international tournament would span three weeks of high-octane polo games and climax with fanfare on February 15 at the foremost Ribadu Polo Ground in Ikoyi, Lagos

He commended the main sponsor GTCO, other sponsors and partners for their supports to the prestigious event that dates back since 1904, ensuring it gained reputation as one of the biggest polo tournaments in Africa, the Lagos Polo Club look forward to delivering great values for the sponsors and participants during the epoch fiesta.

Alakija said that the club is rejuvenated with continuous infrastructural upgrade, stressing that the entire club has been primed for safety of players and horses based on international standards.

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 “The ambitious teams fully armed with foreign professionals and fortified with thoroughbred Argentine horses would be competing for four major prizes and a handful of subsidiary laurels,” he said.

Lagos Polo Tournament Manager, Usman Dantata (Jnr), gave a breakdown of the teams vying for top honours, disclosing  that professional players from Argentina, United Kingdom and South Africa will grace the event even as he  listed The Majekodunmi Cup as the biggest prize  for the tournament.

Other major cups are the Chapel Hill Denham Open Cup, the Lagos Low Cup as well as the crowded Lagos Silver Cup that would draw the curtain on the glamorous festival.

The subsidiary prizes are, the Oba of Lagos, Governor’s Cup, Adedapo Ojora Memorial Cup, Sani Dangote Cup, the Argentine Ambassador’s Cup, the Independence Cup, Lagos Heritage Cup, and the Cancer Awareness Bowl, among others.

The Chapel Hill Denham Open Cup will be the prize to win at the opening week of the event while the Majekodunmi Cup will take the centre stage in the second week.

The Low Cup and the Silver Cup that attracted the highest number of teams, are set to draw the curtain on the international fiesta in the third and final week.

 “Let me assure everyone that with the intensification of teams’ parathions and calibre of players confirmed to showcase their talents as well as the expected high standard of games, 2026 Lagos International Polo Tournament is set to set a new standard in excitement and prestige,” Dantata added.

Representative of the Mani Sponsor, GTCO, said the sponsorship of the NPA Lagos International Polo Tournament, over the years has ensured that the international fiesta has grown in team commitment, Nigerian and foreign players participation to become one of the most anticipated social and sporting events globally.

According to the Tournament Committee, a grand package of entertainment featuring the best hands in the industry, has been put in place for teeming polo buffs, players and invited guests during the festival, while a long list of high-profile personalities are expected to witness the grandiose polo extravaganza.

Art Hotel  gets royal blessings for Majekodunmi Cup

In the bid  to capture top prize at the on-going  Lagos International polo tournament , the Art Hotel polo team has received royal blessing of His Royal Majesty, Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, Abisogun I, the Oniru of Iruland , ahead of their opening campaign for the Majekodunmi Cup.

A  contingent of  players, sponsors and partners of the team paid a courtesy call to the Victoria Island’s Palace  of the royal  father where they  were warmly received  and blessed by the High Chiefs on behalf of the Oniru.

Elated with the royal blessing,  the Art Hotel polo team believes  they can stake a  huge claim at the ongoing  NPA/GTCO Lagos polo tournament which enters its second week  as hostilities  for the Majekodunmi Cup gets underway.

The Art Hotel team will campaign  for the Majekodunmi Cup with a newly assembled team made up of Bashir Dantata (Jnr.), Mohammed Sani Dangote, and professional players like Santiago Cernadas and Manuel both from Argentina.

The star studded side loaded with high-goal experienced  Majekodunmi Cup champions duo of  Bashir Dantata and Santiago, believe the team has all it takes to emerge winners of the Lagos high-stake prize.

Dangote, who doubles as the Polo Captain of Lagos Polo Club, is upbeat that with the team chemistry coupled with the well-worked out game strategies, the royal blessing plus  their teeming supporters, the Art Hotel is at the ready for his first Majek Cup victory.

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“It’s not going to be an easy ride but we are ready to go all the way to victory. We are lucky to have the mount and the players who have the required exposure and experience to clinch the Majek Cup this year,” declared Bashir Dantata who won the cup with his Lintex team three years ago.

Art Hotel Art and Sports Director, Adetunji Abdul , thanked the Oba for his blessings, adding  hosting the press conference at the Oba Oniru Palace  was  changed from the usual venue with the intention of enhancing the significance of the event.

“It’s our privilege and honour to sponsor the Lagos Art Hotel Polo Team at the 2025 NPA Lagos International Polo tournament, the Majekodunmi cup, and we look forward to a great competition,” Elie Nakhia the Director of Operations stated. “At the Art hotel, we believe that an active participation in our community is vital and as such we are delighted to have the opportunity again to sponsor the Art Hotel Polo team Lagos International polo Tournament.”

Reputed for its competition, pomp and pageantry, the 2025 edition of the Lagos polo extravaganza will be decided over three weeks of end-to-end top class polo with four major prizes, the Majekodunmi Cup, the Chapel Hill Denham Open Cup, the Low Cup and the Silver Cup on offer. A handful of subsidiary prizes and individual awards are also on offer.

The opening week of the tournament is revered as the oldest polo tournament in Africa dating back to the early 1900s. ended with fanfare last weekend with visiting Clearwater Farm from Kaduna and the toss of Lagos polo fans, STL polo team dominating.

The Kaduna side that was making its debut in the prestigious fiesta won the Dapo Ojora Cup on first attempt, while Lagos STL swept the Oba of Lagos Cup and the Chapel Hill Denham Open |Cup in a sensational campaign.

Tourney births with Chapel Hill Denham Open, Silver Cups

Campaigns for top honours in the event’s biggest prize, the  Chapel Hill Denham Open Cup would gallop off events of the 2025 Lagos International Polo Tournament at the foremost Ribadu Road Polo Ground in Ikoyi Lagos from Tuesday, February4.

The glittering Dapo Ojora Cup, played in memory of late Nigerian polo icon and former Polo Captain of Lagos Polo Club, and the highly celebrated Oba of Lagos Cup will hold between  February 7 and February 8 to conclude the opening week.

 Lagos Polo Tournament Manager, Olumayowa Ogunnusi, who disclosed these,  said the prestigious Lagos polo extravaganza that has over the century remain a captivating fusion of elegance, excitement and cultural vibrancy transcending traditional boundaries to unite the noble sport of polo with the dynamic energy of Lagos.

Ogunnusi in his opening remarks during the world press conference heralding the event confirmed that for the first time in over a century and still counting rich history, the prestigious Lagos polo festival had over four weeks of high octane polo showpiece, making the event the biggest polo tournament in Africa.

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Meanwhile,  over  thirty  teams fortified with awesome horsepower and top players across the world and have been confirmed to vie for top honours in the month-long for the prestigious polo fiesta that pride itself as the first polo tournament in the country dating back to the early 1900s.

Lagos Polo Captain, Mohammed Sani Dangote who gave details of the matches, stated that apart from the Open Cup, participating teams will be jostling for the event’s biggest prize, the Majekodunmi Cup, the Lagos Cup, the Silver Cup and a handful of subsidiary prizes respectively.

He listed the subsidiary prizes to include the Oba of Lagos, Governor’s Cup, Adedapo Ojora Memorial Cup, Sani Dangote Cup, the Italian Ambassador’s Cup and the Independence Cup, Lagos Heritage Cup, Chief of Naval Cup, and the Independence Cup, among others.

Dangote pointed out that the matches for the Open Cup will thrill from February 4 through February 8 while the Silver Cup will take center stage between  February 4 and  February 15.

The second week will  also see teams from Lagos and Abuja vying for the event’s biggest laurel, the Majekodunmi Cup  between February 11and 16.

Yet  the final week that would draw the curtain on the annual fiesta,  is steeped in tradition and elegance, will see a crowd of equally matched low-goal team slugging it out for the Lagos Low Cup from February 18-23, 2025 in what promises to be a fitting cap to Africa’s richest polo extravaganza.

Tournament Manager, Ogunnusi has commended the main sponsor GTCO and other sponsors, stating  that having gained reputation as one of the biggest polo tournaments in Africa, the Lagos Polo Club look forward to delivering great values for the sponsors and participants during this year’s event.

 Last year, the final weekend of the prestigious NPA Lagos international tournament provided another wave of triumphs, disappointments and astounding athletic achievements with Lagos based teams letting out the biggest roars, dominating on all fronts.

After a month long of the best international polo actions, the polo world relived the magic and the legacies of the Game of Kings that saw Leighton Kings leading other two Lagos teams to victories in Majekodunmi Cup, Open Cup and the Logos Low Cup respectively.

Hosted by Lagos Polo Club to celebrate 120 years of playing polo, dating back to back to 1904 the festival lived up to the tournament’s billing as a truly global festival,  with Bowale-led Leighton King sweeping past three strong oppositions to retain the event’s biggest prize and the Independence Cup.