Abuja Unity Polo Stakes President Cup, Legislative Shield

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The President Cup, Legislative Shield and Guards Challenge will be at stake at the 9th Abuja Unity Polo Tournament coming up between May 8 and May13 at the Guards Club, Abuja.

The prestigious Abuja Unity Tournament, in its ninth edition, is to celebrate Nigeria’s democracy.

The Tournament Manager, Ben Garba, announced at the weekend that participation for the major championship and subsidiary prizes, would be limited to 12 teams.

He said though many of the teams will be vying for the traditional cups, the organisers are expecting new teams to enhance the overall attraction of the tournament.

Garba, who addressed the media jointly with the Grounds Manager, Guards Polo Club, Aliyu Umar; Second Vice Chairman, Awwal Ibrahim and the Treasurer; Gidado Abdullahi, said a draw will be used to decide the 12 teams that will participate given that many teams have indicated desire to attend.

He said the organisers would limit the teams to each cup , including the High Goal, the Intermediate and Medium Cups.

Garba prided Guards Polo for waxing stronger, noting teams affiliated to it have won the coveted Georgian Cup in Kaduna in addition to laurels in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano.

He added that a lot had gone in the planning of this year’s tournament expected to feature several foreign players and some of Nigeria’s top jockeys.

There are indications that Nigeria’s highest ranked Polo player, Bello Buba +4 , will feature while the highest ranked foreign professional will parade an handicap ranging from +6 to +7.

Umar added that the club had invested in irrigation of the polo ground, specially manicured in the past six months in readiness for the tournament.

“We don’t have irrigation problem. We boast of one of the best pitches in Northern Nigeria and the entire country, ” Umar said.

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