KNPC Polo tournament returns

KNPC Classic Tournament

Venue: Kakira (5-6 Nov) 

The Kakira Nile Polo Club (KNPC) Classic Polo Tournament is back.

This after a one-year hiatus needed to unearth and re-lay the polo ground in a delicate process that KNPC chairman Nitin Madavani described as a "labour of love".

The sense is the 2016 edition will be worth the wait; as many as 15 players have registered, many of whom will travel from Kenya and India.

Madavani also revealed, "We are honoured that Princess Elizabeth Bagaya of Toro has graciously accepted our invitation to join us as our Guest of Honour on this very special weekend for polo in Uganda.

We are proud that Barclays, Johnnie Walker whiskey, Airtel and Vivo Energy are among the leading corporate sponsors this year."

This will be the sixth edition, proof of how far the 'Sport of Kings' has come    

History of Polo

When it started out sometime in the 5th century BC, what would become modern day polo was largely a training exercise for cavalry army units in Persia, now present day Iran.

More than 100 very warlike men on each side would play against each other in what often was a miniature battle. Fatalities were known to occur as elite forces belonging to kings honed their war skills.

It has evolved over the centuries and moved, first to India and then to the rest of the world. It is played professionally in 16 countries, and was an Olympic Sport between 1900 and 1936.

In 2011, it was introduced to Uganda by the Madhvani family.