Following Ugandan players being dismantled by foreigners at the Uganda International Badminton Challenge and Junior tournament, Badminton Uganda Chief Executive Officer Simon Mugabi has attributed the substandard performances to poor training facilities.
Speaking to the media while concluding the Uganda International Junior Badminton tournament, he revealed,
“The players who are winners are training in high-performance centers with everything on properly calculated programs under a good environment, and many of them are based in Europe, whereas ours are training at Sharing the way it is, and the funding we are getting remains too low compared to the players we have to compete against.”
At the Junior event, Ugandan juniors tried to pull up their socks, with Arafat Tendo Kibirige winning his first-ever medal in singles, while Amer Muhammed, who defeated him in the semifinal, went on to win the gold medal.
Muhammed, the Saudi Arabian, in the final won 2-0 (21-12, 23-21) over Lee Shawn of Kazakhstan, who bagged the silver medal.
In mixed doubles, Amer Muhammed and partner Nabiha Sharif also went on to win a gold medal, beating Ousama Keddou and Chiraz Halimi, coming from a set down to win 2-1 (11-21, 21-15, 21-14).
The Arabians at the semifinals stopped host players Denis Mukasa and Joan Kimberly Ssendiwala, making a statement that Ugandans were just outplayed by the best.
In Men’s doubles, the only pair to overtake the Ugandans and fail to win gold were Mustafa Malikzhan and Arnur Tapishev, who forced out Uganda’s Marvin Nicholas Bakaki and Benjamin Ssekanjako, but were defeated by Ayoub Rayan Daoud and Oussama Keddou.
The Algerian pair based in France overpowered the Kazakhstans by 2-0 (21-18, 21-17) in the final to win the gold medal, while the Kazakhstans settled for a silver medal.
Badminton Uganda, with minimal funding from the Government and other partners will continue to look for ways to match the standards with commitment as they rally for more funding to improve working conditions for players, coaches, and other technical officials in order to reach the needed standards.
