Uganda may not have topped the medal table, but its spirited performance stole the spotlight at the Plascon energized Uganda Para Badminton International 2025, clinching nine medals on the final tournament day.
Held from July 1–6 at the Lugogo Indoor Arena in Kampala, the tournament attracted top para-badminton players from around the world.
India dominated the competition, sweeping multiple golds in singles, doubles, and mixed categories. But it was Uganda’s resilience and rising talent that won hearts.
Uganda’s medal tally
Gold (1)
• Sarah Nazziwa – WS – WH 1 + WH 2 – WS – WH
Silver (3)
• Sumin Mutesi and Elizabeth Mwesigwa – Women’s Doubles SL3-SU5 (Exhibition)
• Elizabeth Mwesigwa – Women’s Singles SL3
• Sylvia Nakanda (with India’s Haris Mythili Srikumar) – Mixed Doubles WH1-WH2
Bronze (5)
• Juliet Mary Namunoga – Women’s Singles SL3
• Merida Nakaima Birungi – Women’s Singles SL3
• Harriet Nakayima – Women’s Singles SL4
• Julius Obura – Men’s Singles SL4
• Hassan Mubiru – Men’s Singles SL4
Mwesigwa and Mutesi impressed with silver in the exhibition doubles, displaying strong chemistry and determination. Mwesigwa also made it to the singles final in the SL3 category, narrowly losing to India’s Amudha Saravanan.
Sarah Nazziwa also dominated Slyvia Nakanda 2-0 to clinch the WS – WH 1 + WH 2 – WS – WH title
In the men’s SL4, Obura and Mubiru earned Uganda double bronze with tenacious performances against tough international opponents.
India’s Commanding Performance
India’s squad dominated across the board. Standouts like Karan Paneer, Amudha Saravanan, Swati Swati, and Shashank Kumar racked up medals, sweeping some singles events and securing multiple doubles golds.
Peru also showed strength, especially in the SL3, SL4, and SU5 categories.
Earning eight medals, including several in individual events, signaled major progress in para-badminton.
“We played our hearts and happy for everyone” one of the players Sarah Nazziwa said
“Despite some challenges I think everyone on the team did well and we want to build on that”
The performances energized the countable number of fans in the Arena to produce a couple of shouts and boosted the visibility of para-sports locally.
The Uganda Badminton Association now hopes to build on this momentum, pushing for more support, training, and international exposure.
Association CEO, Simon Mugabi came out to say that;
“Uganda, as a country, didn’t perform badly because when you have players reaching the podium, I think that’s good news for us as Uganda. And their performance, as I can say, I sum up, it wasn’t because we had some silvers and bronze medals.” He said
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t go for the gold because of a few things that I saw on court. But I think, as far as we are concerned, the performance wasn’t bad.”
When asked why Uganda hasn’t been many go past silver medals?
“There are so many challenges.” He added
“I don’t talk about finance, but I talk about what we call high-performing centers. As Uganda, we don’t have high-performing centers, we don’t have good venues. As you can see, we have one in Lugogo, which we have here, and it’s a mighty sport area where it’s for every federation.”
“But our colleagues have got those areas where they have gyms, which have got 16 courts, 20 courts, where they are training every day.”
“And, of course, also that they are using feather shuttlecocks, we use nylon on a daily basis. So these are challenges for me, I look at that.”
“We look at those dimensions that we think our players can use to do training and, of course, improve on that and their performance.” He concluded
With this boost in confidence, Uganda now turns to the upcoming Africa Para-Badminton Championships and the 2026 World Circuit.
The long-term goal, qualifying for the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.
