Emirates International Open Polo Championship begins Friday
Ghantoot Polo Club, Abu Dhabi will host the 14th Emirates International Open Polo Championship tournament from Friday 20 March to Friday 3 April. Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Falal bin Zayes Al Nahyan, Chairman of Ghantoot Horse Racing & Polo Club and supported by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the tournament offers a Dh.1.5million cash prize to the top winning teams. Split into two zones, all teams will play each other over three games, with the two highest teams of both zones going forward into the Semi Finals for the main trophy.
Announced yesterday during a press conference at Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi Hotel, eight teams, including the host side and winners of The McLaren Cup, Ghantoot; HH Sheikha Maitha’s UAE and Zeda, victors in the recent Final of The Julius Baer Dubai Gold Cup, will compete in the final 18 goal of the Dubai season. Representatives of the teams joined H.E. Saeed Bin Houfan Al Mansouri, Vice-Chairman, and Ahmed Al Nuaimi, Managing Director of Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club alongside Fadel Al Mansouri of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
Al Mansouri welcomed the press and wished the participating teams the best of luck before adding that the UAE is witnessing the greatest period in polo, calling it “fabulous days… The participation of the regions’ eight top teams in the tournament confirms its outstanding reputation in addition to the depth of interest in sponsoring the games by national institutions and companies.”
The first matches will take place on Friday 20 March with Zedan (Amr Zedan (0), Martin Gandara (4), Facundo Fernandez Llorente (4) and Pablo MacDonough (10)) versus Edrees (Sultan Edrees (0), Pablo Llorente (6), Juan Guinazu (7) and Pierre Henri N’ Goumou (6)), and Desert Palm (Rashid Albwardy (2), Facundo Castagnola (6), Santiago Laborde (6) and Martin Valent (4)) versus UAE (HH Sheikha Maitha (0), Pelayo Berazadi (4), Ignacio Acuna (5) and Lucas Monteverde (9)).
Photograph: The Emirates International Open Polo Championship was announced yesterday in Abu Dhabi. By Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club.
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