From the greens of Buckingham Palace to the mountains of Mumbai, Kings, Queens, Princes and Princess have transformed Polo from a game of royalty to an elitist sport. On February 12, Luxury Real Estate giant, Sujimoto turned Ikoyi to Sotogrande when they clashed with Africa’s number one cement giant – BUA Group, at the Lagos International Polo Tournament 2020.
A game in which Sujimoto weathered the storm and emerged triumphant after BUA Group took a 4 – 2 lead, in what could easily pass for the best come back of the game, to win with a generous scoreline of 7-5 in favour of Sujimoto.
Speaking about the 2020 edition of the Lagos International Polo Tournament, Mr Sijibomi Ogundele, CEO of Sujimoto Construction, whose construction company is sponsoring one of the teams at the international event, recalled with nostalgia his childhood memories of the prestigious Ikoyi Polo Club and how it inspired the Entrepreneur in him, he said;
“As a little boy, I would come to Ikoyi Polo Club. Sit on the fence to get a proper view of the game, watching the agility of horses, the swing of players, and the cheers of spectators, I would remember the words of my teacher, that ‘there was no nobility in poverty’. The only way to move, from an Oko-Oba to Ikoyi, was to saddle my dreams against the tides of poverty, poverty of location, poverty of association, and most importantly, poverty of the mind. Today, 30 years later, we have a Sujimoto Building in the same Ikoyi and also in Banana Island, a testament to the power of dreaming big”.
This year, the Lagos International Polo Tournament, themed “Lagos Develops Polo”, aims to encourage the participation of young and indigenous talented players while featuring top-class action from some of the most experienced and acclaimed polo players in and out of the country, including South Africa’s Chris Mackenzie +7, Argentina’s Andres Crespo +5, Raul Laplacette +7 and Santiago de Estrada +6, as well as Nigeria’s Neku Atawodi-Edun +5, the first black female polo player and the highest-handicapped female player at the tournament.
Sujimoto Lagos team defeated BUA Group Lagos Team in one of the favourite games of the tournament. The event was an opportunity to determine whether the strength of BUA Cement can withstand luxury finishing, quality and attention to detail of Sujimoto and the Luxury real estate company, did not hesitate to show their mettle when they thrashed BUA group to a 7 – 5 scoreline.
Speaking about the achievement of his team and plan for the future, Mr. Ogundele remarked that: “we are proud of what we have done in this game and also in our business. For the first time in Nigeria, we are planning to name one of our luxury lounges, the Polo Lounge. This lounge will be situated in Sujimoto’s new Banana Island Project – the LucreziaBySujimoto, which has been dubbed the tallest residential building in Banana Island and first fully automated building in Africa
