In the noble game of kings, there are always plenty of good times, and the grove was not in short supply as Yola, revered as one of the earliest birth place of polo in the north eastern part of Nigeria, host the its annual tournament on at the legendary Aliyu Musdafa Polo Ground
Expectedly, the fiesta provided a perfect platform for the
best of Nigerian polo and at the end of a weeklong excitement, Port Harcourt,
Jos and host Yola teams distinguished themselves having booked their places as
champions with sensational wins in the over 85 year old history of the
festival.
While it was business as usual for Yola BSC team with their
biggest win in front of their home fans, lifting the Governor’s Cup, the
biggest title at stake, a busy week of international polo produced plenty of
surprise results elsewhere to underline the competitiveness of the sport.
As Yola’2016 overall champions racking two titles in one
sweeping campaign, The Governor’s Cup and the American University of Nigerian
(AUN) Cup, Tanko Ayuba’s warriors boosting Nigeria’s number one, Bello Buba,
Aliyu Dahiru and Kabiru Seidu are bubbling with confidence as they challenge
for more glories.
"I'm ecstatic, it hasn’t really sunk in at the moment,"
admitted Ayuba."We hit the ground running in the final and the boys stuck
on task and we got over the line at the end. It took a massive amount of effort
and I'm honoured to say I'm patron of this side."
Buba who was voted the Most Valuable Player of the
tournament pivoted the home side in a spectacular manner, scoring four of the
six goals BSC recorded to defeat Katsina Kangiwa 8-31/2 in the final, just as
his kid brother Hamisu Buba was the star of the Jos Malcomines’ Lamido Cup
victory campaign.
Perhaps the most eye-catching result came from the visiting teams
where Port Harcourt representatives were deserved winners of three major prizes
after beating top seeds en route to the finals.
Led by Port Harcourt Polo Club Captain, Michael Ogolo and
former president Tony Isodje, the Casiva side defeated Kaduna Kakuri 51/2-5 in
a closely fought final, to win the MTN Cup, just as Strata Base overcame local
rival, Port Harcourt Kay Jay Energy 3-1 to clinch the NCC Cup.
Henry Toby and his Port Shashbass Boys are still keeping
their winning streak alive with another victory in Yola with the MC Tahir victory.
They had earlier won in Bauchi and picked another in Katsina last August.
“Our successes so far is a result of total commitment of our
players to win at every tournament we play and winning in far away Yola can
also be seen as reward for over as thousand kilometer from Rivers State in
Niger Delta to participate in this international tournament,” declares Ogolo.
Hot favourites, Port Harcourt Casiva threw away another win
after allowing Jos Opponents to come from behind to snatch a 4-2 victory in the
Lamido Cup final clash. Last year’s finalist, Yola Fomina dropped to third.
Adamawa State Governor, Senator Jubrilla Bindow and the Nigerian Polo Federation (NPF) President, Francis Ogboro were led by the
Lamido Adamawa, H.R.H Alhaji (Dr,) Muhammedu Barkindo Musdafa to give out prizes to the winners at the colourful
closing ceremony.
