The opening week of the 2022 Lagos International Polo Tournament came to a befitting climax with Lagos based teams sweeping all the three prizes at stake, sending a strong signal to the fifteen visiting teams as the prestigious polo festival moved to higher gears.
Lagos Dangote set the pace with an emphatic victory against Centaur, to clinch the debuting Adedapo Ojora Cup, before title holders, Leighton Saopolo successfully defended the Lagos Open Cup and the Oba of Lagos Cups respectively.
In a tense final witnessed by a capacity crowd that included former Senate President, Bukola Saraki and billionaire Abdulsamad Rabiu, Leighton Saopolo scored in the first minute of the game that went neck-to-neck winning 9-8 to deny Almat Petrogas their first major title in Lagos.
Before the Open Cup cracker, the duo of Bowale Jolaosho, Seyi Oyinlola and Bowale Jolaosho that had earlier defeated Centaurs team to keep the Oba of Lagos title for the fourth year running, are bracing for a treble as the Majekodunmi Cup race takes center stage from Tuesday
Martin Juaregui broke from the bowling in to score the quickest goal of the festival so far, but Manuel Crespo equalized in kind and pivoted Almat parading Ibrahim Haliru, Habib Buhari and Felipe Marquez to a 4-1 lead in the second chukka.
The lead was soon wiped out by with two quick fires from Juaregui and Ratamar to draw level in the third chukka and reclaimed the lead 9-7 in the fourth chukka
Juaregui and Ratamar were the chief predators for the Lagos side as they held on till the buzzer sounds despite Crespo – a former MVP of the Lagos International Polo Tournament – netting the final goal to finish 8-9.
The 2022 GTCO international polo festival that galloped off in grand style last week moves to higher gears today (Tuesday) as five teams from Abuja, Kano and Lagos battling for the event’s biggest prize, the Majekodunmi Cup.
Kano Lintex and Abuja Almat team are billed to clash in the opening game of the Majekodunmi Cup series .Two subsidiary prizes, the Lagos Heritage Cup and the Italian Ambassador’s Cup are also on offer in this second week to climax on Sunday.
