Nigeria Content Online

As the countdown to June’s Polo World Cup qualifier intensifies, the
Nigerian national polo team, the Eagles, are expecting a tough battle as they
face polo superpowers like Australia, Pakistan, India and South Africa for the
final ticket.

Hosts, Malaysia, who are also looking forward to their World Cup finals
debut, had last week confirmed that seven countries drawn from Oceania, Africa
and Asia would battle for the three available World Cup final tickets on offer
during the Zone D qualifier.

The list includes Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa,
which finished fifth at the last World Cup final held in Mexico, debutants
Nigeria and hosts Malaysia.

The eighth country that would have completed the four-team entry from Asia,
Singapore, last week withdrew from the championship to be hosted by the Royal
Malaysian Polo Association at the Royal Pahang Polo Club, Putrajaya Equestrian
Park and Royal Selangor Polo clubs between June 14-25, 2011.

No reasons were given for Singapore’s withdrawal, which came five days
before the draws for zones in the group stages in which South Africa,
Australia, New Zealand and India emerged the seeded teams.

Nigerian High Commissioner to Malaysia represented the Eagles at the
well-attended draws ceremony, which was conducted by the Federation of
International Polo (FIP) on Wednesday, April 20 in the Malaysian capital city,
Kuala Lumpur.

President of the Royal Malaysia Polo Association, Tengku Abdullah Sultan
Haji Ahmad Shah, who welcomed the international polo teams, as well as
officials and fans from around the world to the ceremony, said hosting the
event was a testament to government’s efforts at developing sports at all
level.

“The FIP World Cup Zone D qualifier will create a sporting buzz not only in
Malaysia, but also around other regions as Australia, New Zealand, India,
Pakistan, South Africa and Nigeria join in the fray to fight for the three
places available from this qualifier for the FIP World Cup finals which will be
held in San Luis, Argentina in October this year,” Shah said.

Nigerian confidence

As some of the finest polo players from around the world battle for honours
in Malaysia, the king hopes it sets the stage and standard for the future
landscape of polo and gives the Asian players the opportunity to play against
some of the world’s best and spur the development of polo throughout the
region.

“Polo carries a long tradition of excellence and the traits of this sport
span from team spirit and determination to speed, agility and dexterity,” he
added, pointing out that the game builds strong character and a fighting
spirit, which helps players brave challenges that come their way and spurs them
to excel in life.

“With the competition lined up for some of the world’s best to pit their
skills against one another, I hope more youths around the world would be
inspired to take up the sport and sportsmen would be further motivated to
continue to strive for excellence.”

According to the draw format, the seven teams would be grouped into three
streams, with Stream A and B having two teams each, while the last stream has
three teams. Teams in Stream A would cross over to play teams in Stream B in
the group stages, while Stream C teams are expected to play in a round robin.

Winners of each stream advance to the semifinals, alongside one other team
with the best overall record. The semifinal games would pit first against
fourth and the second against the third for two final tickets.

The three bottom-placed teams in the group stages would play another round
robin of two chukka matches, to decide which country picks the third Zone D
World Cup final ticket.

Dawule Baba, Nigeria’s most experienced player, who has had varied
experiences of playing at the highest level in Asia and elsewhere, agreed that
though Nigeria was not seeded, any country which chooses to underrate its
resolve to rise to the World Cup challenge, would pay dearly for it.

“We may be outsiders out there in Malaysia, given the pedigree of other
teams from Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa, but I trust what a
Nigerian can do when the stakes are as high as the forthcoming World Cup
games,” he said.

Nigerian Polo Federation boss, Francis Ogboro who is upbeat that the Eagles
will give their best at the Malaysian qualifier, is confident that the team
will return with a good result.

“We are going into the qualifier to do Nigeria and Africa proud and show the
world that polo is a household game in Nigeria with a proud history that spans
over a century,” he added.

Apart from Nigeria, which has named its ten-man team, other countries like
Australia, India, Pakistan, New Zealand and host Malaysia, have also named
their squads.