Title holders and five times champions Jos Malcomines would be leading a host of top teams from Kano, Kaduna and Yola to the highly anticipated 2025 Bauchi Polo Tournament set to gallop with fanfare at the foremost Col. A.D Umar Polo Ground in the state’s capital city.
Barring any last minute change of date to allow visiting teams and ponies to acclimatize as well as the organizers to perfect preparations for the fiesta that has over the decades been the biggest sporting cum tourism attraction to the state, Bauchi would be a beehive of activities from July 22nd through 27th
Murtala Laushi -powered Jos Malcomines that have successfully defended their Bauchi top title four times on the trot, are bracing to extend their supremacy over arch rivals from Kaduna, Kano, Yola and home crowd favourites, Bauchi Dokaji in what promises to be one of the most competitive Bauchi battles royale in years.
Regarded as one of the biggest polo tournaments in the country, the Bauchi Polo festival is spread over a week of octane showpiece and top-class entertainment with four major prizes and a handful of subsidiary prizes up for grabs by the contenders.
Major titles at stake include the Governor’s Cup which is the event’s biggest reward. Other prizes are the Emir of Bauchi Cup, Emir of Katagum Cup and the low-goal Sarki Fulani Cup.
Further checks revealed that glittering subsidiary prizes like the Tafawa Balewa Cup, played in the everlasting memory of Nigeria’s Prime Minister, the Beginners Cup and the Veterans Cup would be carted home by lucky winners during the festival at the home of the foremost Yankari Games Reserve.
The events biggest prize, the highly revered Governor Cup and will take the centre stage while highly fortified teams from Jos, Kaduna, and possibly Bauchi Dokaji are expected to jostle for the top prize.
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“It’s going to be a three weeks of thrilling polo experience for our esteem sponsors, partners and lovers of the noble game.” Bauchi Polo Secretary, Haruna Ningi told NationSports ahead of the tournament.
Bauchi Polo Captain, Ismaila Sam Pam, further gave a breakdown of teams participating in the international event with upstart players and female players joining the regular Natalie Allen in the campaign for honours.
He also disclosed that established Nigerian polo patrons, top Nigerian professional players and their counterparts from Argentina and Europe are billed to display their awesome skills during the weeklong polo fiesta that has annually attract the biggest crowd to the ancient Hausa Kingdom for decades still counting.
Nestling off the popular Kano- Ningi Road in the State Capital, the serene Bauchi Polo Club was established in the late 1970s by polo enthusiasts and lovers of the noble game of kings led by Col Umar when he served at the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps (NAAC).