Goodfellas, Origin in Open Cup warfare
The second stage of the MTN sponsored Lagos International Polo
Tournament got off on an exciting note yesterday with two high octane Open Cup
games thrilling the capacity crowd at the Polo Ground in Ikoyi, Lagos.
In the opening game of the day Lagos Goodfellas, who are still
basking on the euphoria of their Ibadan Cup success last month, came from
behind to beat Ibadan Origin who paraded their captain, Kenneth Edet, Jubrin
Ali, Seidu Umar and a professional from Europe, 8-7.
The Ibadan Origin, who are drawn in the same stream with highly
ambitious opponents like AGL Shoreline,
Tavia Trojan and Kano Titans, would now need to be in their best
form in subsequent games if their dream of carting home the Chapelhill
sponsored Open Cup is to come to pass.
Jostling for the winner of the Open Cup which attracted other
top teams like the Makanjuola’s Lagos Caverton and Lagos HST, will continue to
light up the event till Sunday when the two best playing teams will clash in
the final.
Open Cup campaign
Caverton would open their campaign for the Open Cup against
Goodfellas on Friday, just as HST would hope for better luck when they come up
against Tavia Trojan on Friday.
Competitions for the tournament’s biggest prize, the Majekodunmi
Cup, pitting defending champions, Fifth Chukkers against two Lagos based sides,
Ashbert/MRS and Linetrale/Trafigura, is billed to commence on Thursday with the
title holders taking on former champions, Ashbert/MRS.
Linetrale/Trafigura will have their first test of the
Majekodunmi Cup battle on Friday when they would try Ashbert/MRS for size,
before confronting Fifth Chukkers who arrived with a squad that boost the likes
of Adamu Atta, Babangida Hassan and two Argentine professionals.
The first stanza of the MTN polo extravaganza ended with fanfare
last weekend with Lagos Arkpolo and Kano Yakassai carting home the Lagos Low
Cup and the Dansa Cup respectively.
The second part of the tournament is billed to end this weekend,
with the finals of the Open and the Majekodunmi Cups respectively.
Other laurels up for grabs during the grand finale include the Governor’s
Cup, played in honour of Lagos state governor Raji Fashola, and the
Independence Trophy, reputed as the oldest polo prize in Nigeria.
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