Day one, and the first pool photographs in this gallery
The Lohana Sports Festival 2026 opened with pool at the RCT Centre in Harrow. Forty-four entries across three events, five tables, and play from 9:30am. Under 50 singles started in round-robin groups of three so everyone got at least two matches. Over 50 singles and the doubles were straight knockouts, best of three frames early and best of five from the quarter-finals.
Four years of festival photographs on this page and not one of them was pool, because pool is new for 2026. These are the first.
Photographs from Saturday 12 September by Nishit Kotak. Tap any picture to open the full set.
Every frame was a Shield point. Pool was the first event of the Mahajan Shield: five points for a winner, three for a final, one for a semi-final, and one for every person who entered. The draw, the results and the first Shield table are on the results page. Golf follows at Stanmore on Saturday 19 September, and Festival Day is at Hertfordshire Sports Village in Hatfield on Sunday 20 September.
Every generation, one place
The Lohana Sports Festival gallery: three days, eleven sports and events, and every generation of the community in the same photographs. The rallies, the huddles, the chai queue and the silverware.
The Lohana Sports Festival gallery, this is what we play for
Photography by Rupen. Full albums from each festival land here after the trophies.
The Lohana Sports Festival gallery, year by year
Every photograph on this page came from one of five festivals. This is not a highlights reel put together by an agency. It is what sixteen mahajans look like when they get a weekend together, taken by the people who were there playing, watching or running the desk.
You will find pool frames at RCT Hall in Harrow, the first tee at Stanmore Golf Club, and Festival Day at Hertfordshire Sports Village in Hatfield. Badminton, table tennis, squash, pickleball, football sevens, indoor cricket, youth cricket, pool, golf and now Antakshari. Presentations, chai queues and a good deal of standing about between matches, which is most of what a festival actually is.
2022 · The first whistle
The first festival brought the mahajans back onto the same field after a long gap. One day, a handful of sports, and a great deal of goodwill. Most of the faces in these early pictures are still turning up.
2023 · Trophies go outdoors
The second year moved the presentations into the open air. Families stayed long after the last match, which is usually when the best photographs happen.
2024 · The next generation shows up
Youth entries grew sharply. The under-14 cricket and the junior categories gave a lot of parents their first reason to stand on a cold sideline, and the albums from this year are full of them.
2025 · One hundred and four trophies
The largest festival so far. One hundred and four trophies went home across eight sports. If you are looking for a picture of someone you know, this is the year with the most of them.
2026 · The Shield arrives
This year adds the Mahajan Shield, where every single entry scores a point for your mahajan, and Antakshari, where teams of five sing for the same cause. Pool from Saturday 12 September is on this page now. Golf from the 19th and Festival Day from the 20th follow within a few days of each.
Spectators watch free and always have, which is why so many of these pictures are of people who never picked up a racquet. Grandparents on the front row, cousins who came for the food, and at least one dog. They count too.
Photographs go up within a few days of each day of the festival. If you have pictures from any year, the committee would like them, and they will be added with credit. The quickest way to see new ones first is the eNewsletter, which has carried community news since January 2006.
Your picture belongs in next year's wall
Pool was played on Saturday 12 September. Golf at Stanmore is Saturday 19 September and Festival Day at Hertfordshire Sports Village is Sunday 20 September. Entries closed on Sunday 13 September.
Festival day