Safaricom wins Bwana Beg Cup of X-mas

Gideon Moi of Safaricom displays the trophy after winning the Bwana Beg Polo Cup at Manyatta Polo Club in Gilgil,Nakuru county on December 17,2017.[Photo:Kipsang Joseph/Standard]

Ben Stonewigg steered Handicap One Safaricom to a 7-5 victory against Royal Salute to win the Bwana Beg Cup of the Christmas Polo Championships at Manyatta Polo Club in Gilgil yesterday.

Safaricom, whose teammates included Gideon Moi (handicap one), Kaila Millar (handicap five), and Izzy Stichbury (handicap 0.5), were in pure class from the first to the final chukka and never gave their opponents, a strong Salute side, breathing space.

First to take the match a notch higher was Stonewigg with the opener before Salute replied with two quick goals by Harry Griffiths for a 2-1 lead at the end of the first chukka.

In the second chukka, Safaricom mounted daring raids in Salute’s territory and it did not come as a surprise when Stichbury and Stonewigg scored for the winners while Griffiths netted his third goal for a 3-3 tie at the end of the chukka.

The third chukka was equally competitive, with Gideon adding the fourth goal for Safaricom from a backhand pass from Stichbury and Salute instantly replied through Kigen Moi before taking the lead through Griffiths, who increased the tally to 5-4.

The lead was, however, shortlived as Stonewigg added two quick goals to steer his side to the lead with five seconds to the end of the third chukka.

The goal that broke the camel’s back came through Gideon at the end of the fourth chukka.

“It is fantastic to earn a Christmas gift with this victory. It all started last weekend. It was teamwork that made us win,” Gideon told The Standard Sports.

Samsung Galaxy's Nzomo family team led by captain Raphael Nzomo, Hiromi, Jadini, and Amani won the Plate Competition after they beat Twiga 6.5-5 in a see-saw scoring match.

“After we disastrously lost in the opening match to drop in the Plate Competition, we had the privilege to play as a family and in this game, it does not matter whether you are playing with your children or grandchildren but what matters is fitness to win,” Raphael said.

They started the match with half a fraction of a goal advantage from their low handicap against Twiga.