The just concluded Katsina International Polo Tournament was an unforgettable eight days of top flight actions with the former President Muhammadu Buhari, royalties, top government officials, business moguls, diplomats and thousands of polo enthusiasts attending the grand finale.
The host teams won two out of the four major prizes with former champions, Katsina Max Air clinching the event’s biggest prize which is the Governor’s Cup.
The home Boys parading Argentine player, Fernando Munaz, Murtala Aliyu, Abdulmalik Badamasi and team captain, Dikko Mangal, outpaced the quartet of Lado Aliyu, Aliyu Tijani, Rabiu Mohammed and Abdulraham Mohammed in Trappco colour to emerge champions.
Other top winners of the fiesta include the Mohammad Babangida powered Minna Profile who provided the biggest upset of the prestigious fiesta, edging highly rated Kwakol polo team in the final, with Mambo Musa scoring the sudden death goal to earn Profile’s first ever Talba Cup title.
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Visiting Gilaso Ismanaf from Kano went home on high after edging their Katsina Al-Muazzam opponents in the final to clinch the newly introduced Wazirin Katsina Cup and the Coomassie Cup respectively.
An elated Chairman of Katsina Polo Club, Muhammadu Sarki who led his Katsina Kangiwa team to win first cup of the tournament, hailed the home teams for making Katsina proud.
He also dedicated all the prizes won by home based teams to the Emir of Katsina who is Life Chairman of Nigerian polo.
“His Royal Highness has been our biggest benefactor and chief motivator over the decades and we owe him this token of appreciation by dedicating our superlative 2023 performance to him” Sarki added moments after the festival.
President of Katsina Polo Club, Prince Sanusi Kabir Usman who was lauded for being highly successful, congratulated the winners and all participating players for making 2023 Katsina polo extravaganza a memorable fiesta.