Held in the name of the president, the H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Polo Cup comes under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, chairman of Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club, and is expected to commence this coming Sunday Jan 6th at the Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club.
The event is a unique opportunity to be a part of an exclusive state-of-the-art Polo experience. The Fifteenth season, two-week long tournament, is considered one of the most prestigious in the Middle East.
Qualification games of the H.H UAE President Polo Cup welcomes the participation of 10 teams, Mahra, Al Habtoor, Abu Dhabi, UAE Polo, Desert Palm (1) title holder, and Desert Palm (2), Idriss Saudi team, Zidane Saudi team, Ben Drai, and Ghantoot team the organizer and host of the tournament.
The Grand Finale will take place the coming January 16th 2015, a date known as Abu Dhabi’s “must attend” sporting event.
The Cup announcement came earlier this week during a press conference held at the club in the presence of H.E. Saeed Bin Houfan Al Mansouri, Club’s Vice-Chairman, Colonel Hamid Mohammad Al Ansari, Director of the Sports Affairs Department at Dubai Police, Lieutenant- Colonel Jamal Amiri Representative of Abu Dhabi Police – GHQ and Mr. Ahmed Al Nuaimi, Director General of the club and Dr. Magdi Abdel-Mahdi, director of external communications at ADCB (main sponsor), alongside a number of sponsoring representatives and the media.
During the conference, which was headed by Al-Mansoori, he conveyed greetings of His Highness Sheikh Falah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for the new year,wishing all the participating members good luck in this upcoming main event Especially recognizing it with (18 Hand Caps) a high level ranked tournament.
The tournament witnesses a distinctive participation of the most prominent players and teams in the region, most notably HH Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who left a positive spark last season, pushed championship level higher and increased audience involvement.
“Completing 20 years, Ghantoot witnesses the participation of ten teams in the 15th edition of the tournament, which confirms a remarkable progress of this particular game within the UAE,” said Al-Mansouri.
Ahmed Al Nuaimi, praised during his speech, the directives of His Highness the President of the club for providing all necessary requirements that promoted the success of the tournaments and the club. “HH President of the UAE Polo Cup 2015, has two groups each with five teams, teams will be distributed within the groups according to the draw,” he said.
“We would like to extend our recognition to the main sponsors of the event, notably, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank for their continuous contributions to the success of the club’s activities, as well as Al Basti Equiworld alongside Abu Dhabi Police –GHQ, Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Dubai Police, Dubai Government, Physical Fitness Program Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sports, VEET Group of Companies, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr Hotel Abu Dhabi the UAE heritage club and Equestrio Magazine, Zayed University and all those who contributed to the success of this prestigious event,” Al-Nuaimi said.
It’s worth mentioning that the annual tournament, which will commence in its 15th edition witnesses a great participation of an elite group of highly skilled players, whom sparked during the last tournament, which was won by «Desert Palm 1» for the first time in their history after taking over rivals «Ben Drai team»in a wonderful finale with a 7-6 golden goal, the third place went to Abu Dhabi Polo team after winning Emirates team by 8-7. Her Highness Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum won the best local lady player title during the local tournament after her great efforts of pushing her team to the semi-finals, and Mohammed bin Drai got the best player title and his stallion got the best horse in the tournament.
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