Nigeria Content Online

The week-long MTN
International Polo Tournament, which comes to a climax this weekend in
Kano, has thrown up some interesting winners who have distinguished
themselves in the over fifty teams that vied for honours.

One such team which
proved bookmakers right in the event was Kaduna El-Amin which won all
matches on their way to claiming the event’s biggest prize, the Emir of
Katsina Cup.

To write their name
in gold, El-Amin players, displaying their traditional attacking polo
and that special cohesion that has been their hallmark for over a
decade, defeated Lagos Rubicon and Katsina Hajara Farms to win the
crown.

Parading the trio
of Bello Buba, Ibrahim Mohammed, Ali Hassan and their South African
import, Sbu Duma, the Kaduna-based champions, who were playing without
their patron, Mohammed Babangida, were clinical in their approach as
they came from behind to defeat both Rubicon and Hajara Farms after
giving out a whopping eight handicap goals.

“EL-Amin is the
team of the moment having won every major title at stake around the
country in the last four years. This is our seventh title in Kano and
with our growing popularity with the polo enthusiasts here, it will
take more than a team to beat us in Kano,” EL-Amin’s team manager, Ayo
Majekodunmi, enthused.

With Emir of
Katsina crown, which is their seventh such title from Kano in recent
history, El-Amin look set to maintain their Kano supremacy for a long
time.

The Nigerian polo power house had earlier emerged champions in 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2008.

Other winners

With the Emir of
Katsina crown safely in the kitty, El-Amin spiced their impressive
outing in Kano with a second title, beating a strong field of selected
high-goalers to win the Muhammadu Sanusi Cup, one of the highly revered
polo titles in Kano played in memory of the late Emir of Kano.

Another top winner
at the tournament was Katsina MAX Air who defeated six teams to claim
the event’s second most wanted prize, the Dantata Cup. Former winners,
Kano Meridian, who won the prize three years ago, came from behind to
finish runners-up ahead of Trappco Ranch.

Katsina’s polo
contingent to the tournament emerged the best performing club, adding
the Dangote Cup to their haul, thanks to the top performances of
Huseini and Umar Kabir Usman, both from the Katsina royal family.