Some of the world’s best polo stars have gathered in Kaduna for the 2023 Georgian Cup, which galloped off on October 31 and will end on November 5, 2023.
Already, 2021 champions of the six-day event, now in its 103rd edition, Abuja Rubicon Polo Club, have staked their claim to the title at the competition holding at the newly remodelled Kaduna Polo Club.
Leading the best of selected home-based riders to the 2023 tournament is four-goaler, Bello Buba, supported by top professionals from Argentina.
Also expected to feature prominently in the competition is Kaduna El-Amin, led by its patron, Mohammed Babangida. They are presenting a +19-goal team. El-Amin has won the Georgian Cup 15-times.
Adamu Attah, patron of Fifth Chukker, will lead a packed +18-goal team. Attah has fast riding Abdulrahman Mohammed (+3) in his team, as well as Fercundo Retamar, a +6 goaler. Attah is a +2-goal player and has won the Georgian Cup nine times.
Homeboy, Abdulmalik Badamosi (+4) is leading Hadi Sirika’s +18 goal Abuja Rubicon. Sirika, former Aviation Minister, is a +2 goaler. Abuja Rubicon is a three-time Georgian Cup winner, while MaxAir/Lintex has +16-team in its stable. Manuel Crespo is the team’s star player. Dubbed the ‘Assassin’, Crespo is a +6-goal player.
Apart from history making high-goal Georgian Cup, other laurels on offer at the fiesta are the Emir of Katsina Cup (Medium Goal) and Imani Cup (Low Goal).
The Georgian Cup, donated by FirstBank in 1918, is the oldest and most respected polo trophy in West Africa, played at the Kaduna Polo Club, which was founded in 1918 by the British Army.
Currently, the Georgian Cup sits as the premier and most prestigious polo trophy in the continent, and one of the longest running sports sponsorships in the world.
