Katsina bubbles for 2017 International Polo Festival
Billed to gallop off with pomp from August 19 to 26, the prestigious 2017 Katsina international polo tournament is not just one of the most important tournaments in Nigeria, it is one of the oldest and the most attended. It annually blast off a new polo season.
Since its inauguration in the early 1920s, the tournament has gained in popularity and year on year, it sees patrons and professional players from all over the world gather in the ancient kingdom to compete for the coveted Nigerian Cup crown, one of Africa’s most wanted polo prize, the Nigerian Cup.
The tournament is played over nine days of top class polo in August at the legendary Sir Usman Nagogo Polo Ground which is set a few hundred meters from the Palace of Emir of Katsina.
Kano Polo Club Life President Alhaji Lawal Kaita has held out the promise of unprecedented added value from this year’s tournament, assuring that the club is set for the 2017 festival.
“We are pushing for the optimal every which way because we intend to restore Katsina polo’s preeminent pedigree,” declares Kaita.
The tournament is considered to be the most prestigious polo tournament alongside Kaduna and Lagos, and it is a well-known fact that all players aim to win here at some time in their polo-playing careers.
Polo Captain, Prince Umar Kabir Usman confirmed on phone that teams from Kaduna, Kano, Zaria, Sokoto, Abuja, Keffi, Bauchi, Minna, Jos, Yola and Maiduguri would be vying for top honours in the must attend season opener.
Organisers have assured all participating teams, polo enthusiasts and tourists a most memorable time in the “Home of Nigerian Polo”, during the week long galloping fiesta that has remain the biggest sporting cum tourism attraction to the ancient Hausa kingdom for decades.
Backed by the Katsina State Government and a consortium of blue chip corporate organizations and high profile individuals, the event promises to be exciting.
The 2017 list of participants reads very much like a Who’s Who, not only of the sport of polo itself, but also of celebrities, the business world and a number of aristocratic families.
Top players from Europe, South America and many from across the African continent have all competed in this event.
Katsina participants include the Royal family that has been promoting the noble game in the country for more than a century now. Nigeria’s top rated polo star, Bello Buba who leads a long list of star players, described Katsina polo tournament as the most anticipated on the annual calendar of Nigerian polo season.
“I have been playing Katsina events for nearly decades now and the cutting edge competition is far from weaning. It keeps getting better every time. I’m particularly impressed by this year’s entries and hopefully next year will be better,” he enthused.
Major trophies competed for annually during the fiesta are, the Nigerian Cup, which is the tournament’s biggest prize, the General Hassan Katsina Cup, the Talba Cup, the Coomassie Cup.
Other subsidiary prizes also at stake include the Vice President Cup, the Governor Cup, Muhammadu Kabir Cup, Usman Nagogo Memorial Cup, Dikko Memorial Cup, Lawal Kaita Cup and Maidabino Cup.
At the last count, a record number of 35 teams, an unprecedented number of 800 thoroughbred horses and over 300 battle-ready players have been confirmed for the event that attracts special delegations and enthusiasts from Benin and Niger Republics, Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso.
With the guaranteed presence of His Royal Highness, Emir of Katsina and Life President of the Nigerian Polo Association, Alhaji Abdulmumuni Kabir Usman, Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo who is expected as the Special Guest of Honour and a long list of political bigwigs, diplomats, captains of industries and first class emirs, the MTN/ Katsina’2017 polo promises to be grandiose.