Sports
PH Polo Club Plans Mega Golden Jubille Tourney
The Port Harcourt Polo Club is planning a mega tournament for its 2022 annual competition to mark its golden jubilee, 50 years of existence. The tournament tagged Port Harcourt Polo Club Golden Jubilee Tournament is being scheduled to hold from January 8-15,2022 in Port Harcourt.
This was made known to newsmen by the President of the club, Engr Chukwudi Dimkpa, during a media chat on Wednesday. According to him, the 50th anniversary tournament is going to be big, attractive and well organized to bring the game of Polo, entertainment, revenue and tourism to Rivers people and beyond.
In fact, the one week tournament will have the best of the best in activities that would not only show-case Polo to the world, but the cultural heritage of Rivers people.
Engr Dimkpa disclosed that more than 15 very good teams from across the world, including Argentina, UAE, Nigeria and other private firms would be part of the tournament.
Also, some new innovations, including a beginner’s tournament, which is designed to encourage beginners to play the game, maiden OB Lulu Briggs Cup and Cookey-Gam Cup would be part of competitions at the event.
The President stated that renowned artistes world-wide were being put in line to thrill the crowd throughout the tournament, especially in a mega opening and closing ceremonies. He subsequently called on the people of the state, sports lovers, business and corporate communities to identify with and be part of the tournament.
He opined that the tournament, if taken advantage of would provide business opportunities to small and medium scale business people and corporate organisations within and around the state.
However, in view of the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, the Polo tournament and all activities at the club are to be in strict adherence to protocols aimed at combating and stopping the spread of the pandemic.
The President said that the club took Covid-19 issues seriously and adhere to existing protocols, which have seen them vaccinating more than 80per cent of staff and members.
He added that the club under his watch wanted to make Polo and itself more excising and to shake Port Harcourt and South-South and make the club the envy of all.
By: Gabriel Nwanetanya
Sports
Nigeria Cricket Federation Re-Elects Akpata President

Akpata emerged unopposed during the federation’s annual general meeting and board elections, which ended in Abuja on Saturday.
The election was decided by 37 delegates, with 12 other board members also emerging, to steer the affairs of the federation for the next four years.
Former Kwara State stalwart, Wale Obalola, emerged as the vice president at the election.
Representative of the South-West on the NCF board, Tayo Atoloye, also returned for another term, while team manager of the Junior Female Yellow Greens, Femi John, was elected as the representative of the South-South on the board.
Other zonal representatives are Chika Okoro (South-East), Ladan Usman (North-West), Dare Aimola (North-Central), and Zainab Adamu (North-East).
Former captain of the men’s national team, Endurance Ofem, secured 30 of the 37 votes to beat another ex-player, Chimezie Onwuzulike, for the players’ representative seat.
Olumide Akinkokun emerged as the technical representative, Prof Mariam Suleiman will represent the National Association of Women in Sports, Chuma Anosike as the sponsors’ representative, while the military and paramilitary will be represented on the board by Major Monica Wabulla.
The president, Akpata, was first elected in 2021 and has driven the growth of Nigerian cricket in the last four years.
Part of his notable achievements include the heavy investment in infrastructure and high-performance, national grassroots development programmes, as well as the introduction of professional contracts for Nigerian players.
Earlier this year, the women’s U-19 team finished sixth at the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia, after the senior team had won a historic bronze medal at the last edition of the African Games in Ghana in 2024.
Nigeria has also bagged several International Cricket Council awards in recognition of the country’s strides towards growing the game, especially for women.
Sports
Nathaniel hopes to inspire young Nigerians after feat

The 22-year-old ran a scorching 47.11 seconds in Friday’s final, smashing his previous national record of 47.31 seconds set earlier this year and becoming only the second Nigerian since Henry Amike in 1987 to reach the 400m hurdles final at the World Championships.
“I hope this performance will inspire young Nigerian athletes,” Nathaniel said after the dramatic final
“This is a great opportunity to learn from the world’s best athletes.”
The race saw American Rai Benjamin storm to victory in 46.52 seconds to finally clinch his first world championship gold medal after two silvers and a bronze, but not without drama.
Benjamin was initially disqualified for crashing into the final hurdle and affecting other athletes, briefly elevating Nathaniel to bronze position. However, the American’s appeal was quickly upheld and he was restored to the top of the timesheet.
Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos claimed silver in 46.84 seconds, while Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba took bronze in 47.06 seconds, leaving Nathaniel agonisingly close to Nigeria’s second medal of the championships.
Despite the near-miss, Nathaniel remained philosophical about the disqualification reversal.
It’s a fair call,” the Nigerian said.
“He put in a lot of work to get that medal and if they are trying to rip off from that, I don’t think that’s fair. He didn’t deliberately knock over the hurdle, that could happen to anyone.”
The former 800m runner, who competes for Baylor University in Texas, expressed satisfaction with his performance and hinted at greater things to come saying, “I still have a lot of potential. I am pleased because I did my best and I ran a personal record. I have it in me and just need to wait for the right time. For now, I am enjoying the process.”
Nathaniel’s rapid rise in the event has been remarkable. Born in 2003, he broke a decades-old Nigerian record set by Henry Amike when he ran 48.42 seconds at the Big 12 Conference meet in 2022 as a freshman.
His progress accelerated dramatically this year. In June, he won the NCAA Outdoor Championships title in Eugene, Oregon, clocking 47.49 seconds – the third fastest time in NCAA history. He also became the first man in NCAA history to run a sub-48-second time in the 400m hurdles semifinal, recording 47.86 seconds.
The Tokyo performance adds another chapter to what has been an exceptional year for the young hurdler, who has now established himself among the world’s elite quarter-mile hurdlers.
While Nathaniel’s fourth-place finish matches Amike’s result from the 1987 World Championships in Rome, his national record performance signals a bright future for Nigerian athletics in the event.
Nigeria’s campaign in Tokyo concluded with Tobi Amusan as the country’s only medallist, though this still represented an improvement over the Budapest World Championships where Team Nigeria ended empty-handed.
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