Nigeria
Polo honours democracy in the capital
Prince William (centre) leads a wheeling crowd of players and ponies in the Dorchester Trophy charity match last month
Then Polo Timesintern Rebecca Walters captained the Intermediate RAC side, who avenged the university’s earlier defeat with a resounding victory over Pandora Wooldridge’s Exeter side, 8-11/2. Prizes were donated by Kieran Markham, managing director of OJ Polo, sponsors of the event. As Polo Timeswent to press, a record 14 sides were contesting the 4-goal Jack Williams Cup, there are 13 playing in the 12-goal Queen Mother Trophy and the club’s own 18-goal tournament was underway, leaving Ciren’s team with plenty to get excited about as the summer continues.
Chester Racecourse Tense 10K showdown
PRE-TOURNAMENT MEDIA exposure (including Polo Times’s very own James Mullan on BBC Radio Merseyside) and glorious weather ensured a massive turnout for the duration of the sixth Coutts International Polo Weekend last month. Four invited teams travelled to the Roodee to compete for £10,000 prize money. On the first day, Michael Henderson’s team (playing as Alexander Events) suffered a defeat in a dramatic game against Raphael Singh’s Gibro Group, a side including four-goal Englishman Max Charlton. The teams produced an end-to-end encounter but sadly the height of the drama was provided by HPA umpire Julian Appleby, who suffered three broken ribs in the second chukka and had to be taken to hospital and replaced. Gibro Group’s victory qualified them for Sunday’s final, where they met
Nick Hine’s side, Boodles. Boodles had beaten San Miguel, a team put together by Simon Taylor, on Saturday and were most experts’ tip for the 2010 title. With a huge prize fund up for grabs and more than 4,000 eager spectators (including 300 Coutts VIP guests), neither side needed motivating and the game was fittingly exciting. Boodles ran out the eventual winners, 9-8, but only with a decisive late goal just 10 seconds before the end of the fourth chukka.
Above: a large crowd looks on as the action unfolds in the final between Boodles (wearing pink) and Gibro Group. Inset: San Miguel’s Christian Chavez attempts a hook
Finalists
Boodles (8): Richard Hine –1; Christian Badenhop 0; Dave Allen 5; Oliver Taylor 4 Gibro Group (8): Hugo Singh –1; Raphael Singh 1; Max Charlton 4; Matias Amaya 4
www.polotimes.co.uk July 2010 55 Teams:
Dorchester Trophy: Umbogo (12): Matt Cudmore 2; Dave Miller 4; Dave Allen 5; Prince William 1 Cirencester Park (11): Damien Kenning 0; Lochie Hunter 4; Satnam Dhillon 6; Mark Baldwin 1
University 1st IVs: Exeter Open (1): Lucy Watson; Amelia Pemberton 0; Leon Allen 2; Ed Gall 0 RAC Open (1): Edward Foster 0; George Amor 0; Nicholas Johnson 1; Nicholas Boyd 0
PERFECT WEATHER this May greeted the MTN Unity Cup at Guards Polo Cub, Abuja – capital city of the West African nation of Nigeria, writes Ben Garba. The event, which honours Nigerian Democracy Day, attracted an expectant crowd for all four days of competition, featuring 12 teams vying for four cups. Sulieman Abubakar led Team Trappco to the week’s main prize, the Democracy Cup. The presentation was
performed by the Nigerian Vice President, Alhaji Namadi Sambo. His presence, plus numerous sponsors, an improved ground and better-looking horses than ever demonstrated polo’s increasing profile and popularity among Nigeria’s upwardly mobile generation. However, sadly the horses were forbidden from attending the swinging late-night after-party!
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