EQUISTERIAN ISSUE 9

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COVERSTORY Samsung East Africa Vice President and COO Robert Ngeru hands over the trophy to Samsung Galaxy team, who won the kenya International Cup Samsung Galaxy are the Nairobi Open champions South Africa's quartet Buster Mckenzie, Selby Williamson, Mike Osborn and Russel Watson excite fans at the Kenya Open International Polo tournament, as Kenyan farmer Jammie Murray clinches an MVP performance in the 10-14 goal event and Chloe Spoerry in the 5-7 tourney. By EA Equestrian Writer Nairobi is still tantalized by the just-concluded Kenya International Polo Championships that rocked the east African nation's capital for two successive weekends in the month of September. The high-octane 5-7 and 10-14 goal tournaments held at the Nairobi Polo Club (NPC) and sponsored by Samsung Galaxy arguably lived up to their billing owing to the caliber of international players they attracted. Teams, as in the past events, had a leeway to fly in world-class players they could afford and manage and this gave local fans an opportunity to watch and interact with their favourite international polo stars. Among those who stepped again to play polo on Kenyan soil included South African veterans six-goaler Buster McKenzie, five goaler Selby Williamson, Mike Osborn who is seeded fourth, Russel Watson (fifth seed) and Kenyan international and Mount Kenya large scale farmer Jammie Murray whose handicap is 4.5. 8 The E.A. Equestrian ■ OCT-DEC-2015
COVERSTORY Mckenzie, who runs a polo tourism business in South Africa and features for his home town team Plettenberg Bay, was the revered choice for Samurai who went out gun blazing in search of the Kenya International Polo title they last won in 2013. The father of three did not disappoint as he raked in crucial goals that saw Samurai end the 5-7 goal tournament runners-up and 10-14 contest in third place. “Mckenzie was definitely a good catch. He is a machine on pitch," quipped Samurai captain and patron Raphael Nzomo during the tournaments. Mckenzie has been a force to reckon with in polo scene for over 30 years. He has an interest in the training of polo horses if he is not playing. “We needed to have beaten Samsung with a difference of two goals to lift the 10-14 goal trophy. That was hard luck on our side. We will live to fight another day,” noted Mckenzie after he starred for Samurai in the opening tournament he netted over ten goals. Nzomo, who facilitated Mckenzie’s return trip to the country, allowed Mckenzie to take charge of Samurai in 5-7 contest as he (Rafael) took part in the championship as an umpire before donning his jersey in the 10- 14 contest. “Our team had a strong base. We prepared and trained well. I decided to take part as an umpire in the first tournament in order to give chance to our new players who were dying to make a debut in the Kenya International Championship. I believe my teammates Jonathan and Rowena Stichbury, and Kaila Millar had the capacity to aid Mckenzie as we ended the tournament as runners up,” noted Nzomo. Royal Salute proved money was a nonissue on their side as they were able to jet in two international hard hitters – Williamson and Osborn, who helped them achieve fourth place in the 5-7 and runners-up position in the 10-14 goal tournaments. Osborne has a polo playing career that has stretched since 1989 to date and is spread across England, Pakistan, Zambia, Zimbabwe and India. Watson, who so far has played 104 internationals test matches spread over a period of 25 years, was the pearl for Peroni that had another local hard hitter Mike du Toit. Their efforts saw Peroni end the 5-7 goal tournament in third place before settling at the tail end in the 10-14 contest. Murray was able to successfully lead sponsors Samsung to lift both tournaments following his tactical runs and skilful shots that saw him find the opponent’s goal line at ease. His great contribution for the winners saw him take the Most Valuable Player award home in the 10-14 goal tournaments while Chloe Spoerry was voted as MVP in the 5-7 goal tournament. The experienced Murray has played polo in England, Thailand, Australia, South Africa and Zambia and has represented Team Kenya in Barbados, Zimbabwe and Zambia international meets. Everyone was in unison that the Best Playing Ponies were owned by Phillip Arungah and were ridden by Osborn in the 5-7 tournament, while the 10-14 goal hero was Blue owned by Gordy Millar. Dormans emerged the Subsidiary Cup winners after cruising over Brown Cheese and Naked Pizza in both 5-7 and 10-14 contests which were played on round robin encounter. But the greatest sensation of the tournaments was 10-year-old Amani Nzomo who instantly became the talk of the championships. Amani was able to rescue his side Dormans to lift both tournaments and his most memorable moments was when he notched a last minute brace, against seasoned and veteran players, to help trailing Dormans register a win against hard fighting Browns Cheese. The first days of both tournaments were marked by low turn-outs as the opening matches both fell on Fridays when polo fans are still engaged in duties from where they get their daily bread. The fans were able to turn up in full force on Saturdays and Sundays to watch the swashbuckling matches while cheering their favourite players as they wielded their mallet head on at both sides of the pitch. The lush green and expansive pitch that can accommodate 11 football grounds was well watered for the tournaments with organizers filling the cracks on the ground and other opening with special and rich manure soil transported all the way from Mt. Longonot. “This soil not only helps the ground to be firm and lush but also prevents the horses from destroying their hooves. If a horse breaks a hoof then it is as good as gone as it will be costly feeding it yet it can’t help to play the game. The owner has no other option but to destroy it as it will be a liability,” said Nzomo, while adding patches of the rich Mt. Longonot soil in one of the cracks on the ground. The highly-contested matches were not free without accidents, though not of a serious scale. Perhaps the Kenyan football fraternity should borrow a leaf to learn how the polo fraternity values its players. At some point, the an ambulance in waiting could be seen criss-crossing the pitch to attend to any player that had even the slightest brush with their ponies just show how the medical attendants at the venue are competent and up to the task. During intervals, especially during second chukka of the last matches of main cup played on Sunday, fans were given opportunity to step on the grounds on main pitch to help re-carpet the bumps of earth uncovered by the hooves of the ponies. The E.A. Equestrian ■ OCT-DEC-2015 9
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EQUISTERIAN ISSUE 9

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