ABU DHABI, 1st January, 2015 (WAM) — Held in the name of the President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Falah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club, the Polo Cup is expected to commence on Jan 6th at the Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club.
The event presents a unique opportunity to be a part of an exclusive state-of-the-art polo experience. The two-week long tournament, in its fifteenth season, is considered to be one of the most prestigious events in the Middle East.
The UAE President Polo Cup will see the participation of 10 teams. These are 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 organiser and host of the tournament.
The grand finale will take place on 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 Saeed bin Houfan Al Mansouri, the 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, Ahmed Al Nuaimi, Director General of the club and Dr. Magdi Abdel-Mahdi, director of external communications at ADCB (main sponsor), along with a number of representatives of the sponsors and the media.
During the press conference, which was headed by Al Mansoori, he conveyed the greetings of Sheikh Falah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the New Year, wishing all the participating members good luck for this upcoming event and applauded it for being a top-level ranked tournament.
The tournament will witness the participation of the most prominent teams and players in the region, most notably H.H. Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who left a positive spark last season, pushed championship levels higher and increased audience involvement.
“Completing 20 years, Ghantoot witnesses the participation of ten teams in the 15th edition of the tournament, which confirms the remarkable progress of this particular game within the UAE,” said Al Mansouri.
During his speech, Ahmed Al Nuaimi praised the directives of the President of the club for providing the necessary infrastructure, which paved the way for the success of the tournaments and the club. “His Highness President of the UAE Polo Cup 2015 has two groups each with five teams and these teams will be distributed within the groups according to the draw,” he said.
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