Polo: Kangimi Defeats El-Amin To Lift First Bank Georgian Cup—Kaduna based polo team Kangimi on Sunday won the 103rd edition of the annual First Bank Kaduna International Polo Tournament, Georgia Cup.
Pious Eromosele, the tournament’s Media Consultant, said this in a statement made available to the Newsmen in Lagos.
The victory came 10 years after the club last won the famous Georgia Cup.
Kangimi defeated Mohammed Babangida’s El-Amim by 13 goals to 7 to come tops in the fiercely contested six chukkers.
Star of the match, Policeman, Lado Aliyu, described his team’s victory as a welcome development, saying it had been over ten years the team last won the famous FirstBank sponsored trophy.
“Ten years’ drought of victory is something I’m excited about, excellent team work from my teammates and I. Hopefully we don’t wait this long again to savour victory,” he said.
Also speaking, Group Executive, Retail Banking, North, Shehu Aliyu, said the FirstBank brand was proud to be associated with the Georgian Cup.
“We believe in legacies, and we build legacies across our relationships and that is what we at FirstBank do with our sponsorships.
“First Bank will continue to honour its commitment to sponsorship of Geoargian Cup. In doing this, we have been able to support the nurturing of and discovery of talents in most of the sports we are committed to.
“The Georgian Cup which is the most prominent is also part of our legacies because we believe in legacy,” he said.
The Adamu Atta side recovered from an early setback, courtesy of a goal from Babangida’s side to set the crowd into wild jubilation.
The +18goal team comprising Lado Aliyu +3, who replaced the team’s Patron, Atta, Abdulrahman Mohammed +3 and two mercenaries from Argentina.
Facundo Ratamar +6 and Nicolas Recaite +6, took control of the match inspite of the early setback to overcome El-Amin, which also lost in the finals of the last edition to Abuja Rubicon.
Goals from Recaite, Lado, Retamar and Abdulrahman aided Kangimi’s victory.
But the El-Amin side, comprising Mohammed Babangida+3, Ibrahim Babangida, Ringa Genaro, Bauste Arastus fought back in the fourth chukker but their effort came to nothing in the face of the hard fighting Kangimi.