Daily Trust Sunday

Niger Delta 2018 Polo festival gallops off in Port Harcourt

- By Ernest Ekpenyong

Fresh from the Christmas and New Year festivitie­s, the glamorous Nigerian new polo season is set to gallop off with fanfare on January 21, 2018 with the Port Harcourt Internatio­nal Polo Tournament as the opening event on the crowded calendar.

From the Garden City, the season will gather steam as it cruise through the ancient city of Ibadan, Lagos and rounds off the southern tour at the exclusive Abraka Turf & Country Club in Abraka in Delta State, with Easter internatio­nal festival.

Port Harcourt Polo President, Captain Iyene Amapakabo who disclosed this to Polo Royals, stated that arrangemen­ts have been concluded ahead of what would be the most exciting polo tournament in Rivers State capital city for decades.

Tournament Manager, 2018 Port Harcourt Polo Tournament, Victor Fingesi said the best of the Nigerian Polo community would converge to vie for honours at the annual tournament, adding that apart from patrons and polo clubs drawn from every part of the country, teams from South Africa and Dubai will also participat­e in the tournament

Fingesi said that spectators would be treated to scintillat­ing moments, given the calibre of players that will feature for their respective clubs during the tournament.

He further confirmed that the prestigiou­s polo festival billed to climax with fanfare on January 28, 2018, will see the participat­ing teams jostling for the glittering Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina Cup, The President Cup, the Governors’ Cup and the crowded T .Y. Danjuma Cup that attracted the highest number of teams annually.

With traditiona­l rivals and former champions like Abuja Rubicon, and teams from Kano, Kaduna, Lagos and Ibadan expected, the high profile polo fiesta promises to live up to the billings as the biggest polo event in the oil rich Niger Delta region of the country.

The expected participat­ion of top Nigerian stars and worldclass profession­als has already hyped the festival to the high heavens as polo aficionado­s are salivating at the prospect of yet another Port Harcourt high goal extravagan­za.

A release by the Tournament Committee further disclosed that a grand package of entertainm­ent featuring the best hands in the industry has been put in place for teeming polo buffs, players and invited guests during the festival, while a long list of high profile personalit­ies are expected to witness the event this year.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Nigeria