O N E T O W A T C H
DAVID LOMINSKA / POLOGRAPHICS
S A Y Y U D A N T A T A
7
P O N Y L I N E S
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The 2019 Florida high-goal season was a big
leap for Sayyu Dantata of Nigeria.The patron
of SD Farmwent from playing 20-goal polo
last year to 22- and 26-goal this year
in Wellington. He considers the 2019 Florida
season as the highlight of his polo life,
and it’s easy to see why. For the first time
ever, Adolfo Cambiaso was his teammate,
and together they won prestigious 26-goal
tournaments in the newly-formed World
Polo League. Dantata began playing
tournaments in Nigeria when he was 13 years
old. His favourite pony was Lyabo, who he
played in 12- and 14-goal polo. A crossbreed
(Sudan and Arabian lines), the mare had
‘everything,’ he says.‘She would go fast, go
slow – whatever you wanted. She understood
your body movements.’ Polo has taken him
to every city in Africa where polo is played,
as well as to nine states in the US. He has
also played in Asia, Europe, Latin America,
Malaysia and the hotbeds of high-goal polo
in Argentina, Dubai and England. He likes to
win, but says what makes polo special for him
is having fun and making friends.‘My uncle,
Usman Dantata, and my dad, Idris Dantata,
taught me that polo isn’t just a sport.’
