GTCO Polo Tournament: Art Hotel Polo team targets STL Shoreline’s scalp

Polo action

Leighton Kings clinch Dapo Ojora Cup  New kids on the block, The Art Hotel Polo team, say they have put their acts together and now ready to take on all the obstacles on their way to a good finish at the Open Cup.

The Open Cup is one of the glamorous categories of the ongoing GTB Lagos International Polo Tournament, which began last weekend.

The Art Hotel, comprising Neku Edu, Sadiq Dantata, J.J de Alba from Mexico and Argentina’s Genaro Noriega, lost narrowly to Trojan Ark in their opening game of the Open Cup on Saturday. But the team, which says they learnt valuable lessons from their first outing, is now eyeing their first points on Thursday when they meet STL Shoreline.

Speaking on the team’s preparedness for Thursday, team leader, Neku Edu, said, “we have trained hard for our second game, which we hope to win.

“This is our first time playing at this level as we just put the team together, while most of our opponents have been at this level of competition for long. But that is no excuse because we have a crop of players eager to create records in the competition.”

Edun, who is the only lady in The Ark Hotel Polo squad, said being a women is not a handicap as “I have demonstrated that you can only underrate me at your peril. I am no longer new to other teams because they know what I can do. Our game against Shoreline will be fun and challenging because they have a strong team.”

Speaking on his experience playing in Nigeria, Mexico’s Alba said the challenge has been exciting and also rewarding. “This is my first time in Nigeria and it has been fun. It is a new culture, with different types of players, but we are equal to the task. “However, it is not easy to put up a team from the scratch, but we are working