| Nigerian
Army make polo history in India
By Ernest Ekpenyong
Sunday, September 30, 2007
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| Photo:
Sun News Publishing |
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The Nigerian Army Polo Team recently extended the frontiers
of the noble game of the king of sports, becoming the first
Nigerian polo team ever to play on elephants.
Though Nigeria boosts an impressive record in the conventional
polo game that has stretched to over a century, the country
was a complete outsider in the fascinating game of Elephant
Polo until the daring Nigerian Army Polo Team broke the jinx
recently in India.
The country’s contingent comprising six players and
a Leader of Delegation, Col. Dan Ali, achieved the historical
feat while participating in this year’s International
Military Polo Tournament in the Asian nation.
Organised by the Indian Army and hosted by the Indian Chief
of Army Staff, General Singh, the weeklong military tournament,
which featured teams from polo forces in the world like Great
Britain, Chile, Nigeria and hosts, India, saw the West Africans
finishing tops behind hosts in the overall medals table.
"This is an event that Nigeria was a complete outsider
given our global rating in the game of polo. But we came out
surprising everyone with an outstanding performance, which
drew commendations from other participating countries as well
as the spectators," Col. Ali declared at a recent chat
in Bauchi.
"We were particularly impressive in all our games during
the contest in the Elephant Polo categorie, even though all
of us were participating in that type of polo for the first
time," he added.
According to him, the Nigerian delegation that departed the
country aboard Emirate Airline, stopped over in Dubai before
proceeding to Japur, India, venue of the tournament the following
day.
While Elephant Polo is similar to the conventional polo in
many ways, there are some distinctive differences, which made
it quite special. Just as there are four players in each team
with eight elephants chasing after a ball like in the regular
polo, Elephant Polo prides itself for having two persons mounting
on the same animal. The first person controls the animal,
while the second person, sitting behind, is the player.
Expectedly, the pace in this fascinating game is much slower
than the pacy in the regular one, which pumps the adrenaline
with every move, just as the laying pitch is smaller. The
mallet use in the elephant game is longer with a much bigger
ball as well.
The thrill that sets the elephant game apart is how the player,
sitting far behind the controller, is able to control his
driver as well as this massive animal in a darting game of
polo, which flows back and forth in a matter of seconds.
That was the task the Nigerian Army quartet of Lt. Col. Ash
Sa'ad, Lt. Col. M.S.A. Aliyu, Lt. Col. M.M. Yerima and Major
Kapeh Kazir faced in the Indian city of Japur against tough
oppositions armed with years of experience. In a stunning
display of grit and determination, the Nigerians came out
flying in their opening game in the Elephant Polo contest,
beating England 2–1 with goals from Yerima and the gangling
Kapeh, who three months back, was the man of the moment at
the Jos Winter Polo fiesta.
In the final, hosts, Indians, who had easily discarded Chile
in their opening clash, had to dig deep into their trenches
with the home crowd behind them to out-pace their West African
opponents. They laboured till the last seconds of the final
chukker before edging the hard-fighting Nigerians 2–1
in the final.
If the elephant game was too close for call, the conventional
polo, which pitted England, Chile, Nigeria and hosts, India,
certainly went to the wire, with Nigeria and hosts confronting
each other again in the opening game. While the hosts paraded
their best hands, Nigerian Army lined out Col. Dan Ali, Lt.
Col. Sa'ad, Major Kapeh and their latest recruit, ‘Captain’
Dawule Baba, who joined the team fresh from a month-long training
stint in Argentina.
According to the team's captain, Col. Ali, the Africans who
led on goals till the last chukker, were coasting home with
an upset when their hosts piled up a late minute rally to
win 7–51/2.
"In all, we are proud of our efforts and from what the
other participating teams and the hosts said afterward, we
were clearly the best team in the tournament," the elated
Ali added.
Two years ago, the Nigerian Armed Forces blazed a trail, with
the hosting of the first-ever World Military Polo Tournament.
The historic event, which primarily seeks to foster friendship
among the world's military through the noble game of polo,
was backed by the Presidency, hosted by the Nigerian Chief
of Defence Staff and staged at the magnificence Fifth Chukker
Polo Resort in Kaduna.
The global Military Polo that attracted worldwide commendations,
pitted military teams from the United States of America, United
Kingdom, India, South Africa, Egypt and hosts, Nigeria. The
weeklong fiesta, which commemorated the Armed Forces Remembrance
Day anniversary, saw India beating South Africa in a thrilling
four chukkers final to emerge champions, while hosts, Nigeria,
finished third.
The second edition of the event could not hold last year as
planned, due to the Nigerian Air Force plane clash in a remote
village in Makurdi, which claimed the lives of high-ranking
military officers, some of who were in charge of preparations
for the tournament.
Since the inaugural edition, the Nigerian Army Polo team have
played in USA, and are currently making plans for a trip to
South America for another tournament.
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