The prestigious Abuja Carnival Polo that has been
the hallmark of the glamorous Abuja Carnival for years now, has again highlights
the just concluded Abuja’2012 Carnival with its pomp, pageantry and unparalleled excitements.
After two
weekends of top class polo and nerve wrecking competition, the polo fiesta that
attracted top teams from across the country climaxed in a cliff hanging fashion
with the organizers needing an extra mathematical inference to separate the
winners.
Thanks to the close competition that dominated the
polo fiesta, the results all the four major prizes at stake were so close that
winners only emerge on the last chukka of the finals.
Abuja polo top playing side, the Rubicon who won the
high-goal prize, needed a goal difference to edge Bankole Foundation boosting
Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole, Abdulmalik Badamasi, Hamisu Buba and Mamuda Shehu to
the second place.
Playing without their patron, Senator Hadi Sirika, the
Rubicon squad of Idris Badamasi, Bashir Dantata, Baba Dawule and Jamilu
Mohammed who forced newcomers, Bankole Foundation to a 3-3 draw in their
opening game, labored to a slim 61/2-6 victory over the top firing Keffi Ponys with
Honourable Aliyu Wadada, Bello Buba, Ibrahim Mohammed and Rabiu Mohammed on
duty.
To claim victory, Rubicon had to wait anxiously through
the five chukkas final between Keffi Ponys and Bankole Foundation which ended 51/2-5
in favour of the former Speaker House of Reps and his boys. Rubicon however
carried the day, having scored more goals 91/2 to Bankole’s 81/2.
The final
standing in the Intermediate Cup where Adamu Usman powered Mailambu Global team
won their first major title in Abuja, was no difference. With three equally matched
teams, Al-Barak, Road Consultancy ltd. (RCL) and Mailambu Global locked in the
final, it took the an ingenuity on the part of the organizers, to separate the
winners.
Mailambu which had drawn Al-Barak in their opening
game and secured a slim 4-3 victory over the RCL Boys, had to wait for the
outcome of the Al-Barak versus, RCL game to know their fate.
Adamu Usman and his Boys who watched the tense final
from the edge of their seats were all squared with the same number of goals and
wins, after Nasir Lukat, Baba Dawule, Hamisu Buba and Muktar Adahama in RCL
colours lunched a last chukka rally to upturn Al-Barak 7-6 in the last seconds
of the tense final.
The rules did not make for extra chukka, so the
organizers had to dig deep into their rules book to pick Mailambu as winners
over RCL on a Head –to- Head format. Mailambu foursome of Musa Ibrahim, Idris
Badamasi, Lado Aliyu and their patron Usman, had earlier defeated RCL in their second
game.
The low-goal cup that pitted four teams saw the
Auwal Ibrahim led FCDA side parading the trio of Baba Duna Kaloma, Husseini
Ahmadu and Ahmed Sani running out the winners. The Abuja Boys edged the
ambitious Revolve team boosting Aliyu Umar, Nasiru Lukat, Danlami Lawal and
Mohammed Banka to the second place.
The medium-goal title that featured three arch
rivals was another trench war as Al-Barak, RTC and ASI team stake huge claims
to the glittering cup in their quest for the carnival laurel.
At the end, it was ASI parading their patron, Aminu
Iya, Ibrahim Kure, Ado Madawaki and Abdulmalik Badamasi who made it to the top,
reminding the capacity crowd that witnessed the fiesta that ASI is a team to
watch out for in the high profile Nigerian polo circuit.
They turned back the quartet of Mustapha Sheriff,
Hamisu Buba, Ibrahim Mohammed and Mustapha to the second place finish. The Sadabi
team pivoted by the enterprising Udeme Etim and relying on the experience of
Ibrahim Paki, Muktar Isa and Jemil Dawoodu finished third.
Guards Polo Captain Mustapha Junaid, who described
the tournament as a huge success, thank all the players, the invited guests and
the teeming polo buffs who arrived Abuja in their droves for the festival, for
their support in making the fiesta a memorable one.
“On behalf of the Tournament Committee and the club
management, let me assure all who made this event the highlight of the annual Abuja
Carnival, that next year would be much bigger and more exciting,” Junaid added.
The glamorous Carnival polo fiesta was hosted by the
Guards Polo Club and backed by the FCT and other benefactors.
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