Uganda Int’l Para Badminton: Foreigners Dominate Top Podium Finish, Only Nazziwa Looks Exceptional
By: kayiirajackson@gmail.com
The Uganda International Para Badminton championship climaxed on Sunday at Lugogo Indoor Arena and the international players dominated the top podium finish.
Sarah the Nazziwa, the wheel chair one star secured Uganda the only women’s single silver medal, she lost on final 2-1 against Brazil’s Juscileia De Carvalho Silva.
By whisker, Nassiwa missed to make it to the 2024 Paralympics in France but this time round she is looking at qualifying to 2028 games in Los Angeles and she had this to comment about her final match and the silver medal won.
“This achievement is huge for me, my Country and Coaches. What has mainly helped me is training because having been going to different tournaments so the consistency was bound to be there”
“For my opponents, before I play any of them I make lots of research about them and get to know how they play but as you know the more you advance the harder the opponent”
“As I collect 2028 Olympic points, Previously have been ranked 14th but I expect to be around the top Ten(10) individuals when the results return.” she concluded
For starters, last edition, 2023 also got one silver medal, it was won by Harriet Nakayima Standing Lower four player, by then Nazziwa finished third.
The other medalists for Uganda collected bronze and these included; Sumin Mutesi (Standing Upper 5), Rose Nansereko( Singles standing Lower 3), Flavia Basuuta (Wheel chair 1) and Brian Mugabe + Ali Mukasa (Wheel chair 1&2) who played in the doubles.
The most top finishes were for the Indians and a few Brazilians.
The final finish according to the rankings:
Men’s Singles Standing Lower 4
Final
Abhijeet Sakhuja Vs Surya Kant Yadav 2-0 (21-13, 21-17) (all Indian final)
Podium
1. Abhijeet Sakhuja
2. Surya Kant Yadav
3. Harshit Choudhury (India)
3. Deep Ranjan Bisoyee
Men’s singles Standing Upper 5
Final
Jatin Azad (India) Vs Ibrahim Aliyev (Azebeijan) 2-0 (21-14,21-16)
Podium
1. Jatin Azad
2. Ibrahim Aliyev
3. Karan Paneer (India)
3. Vikram Singh (India)
Men’s Singles Standing Lower 3
Final
Kartik Suhag Vs Vijendra (all Indians) 2-0 (21-17,21-17)
Podium
1. Kartik Suhag
2. Vijendra
3. Dinesh Rajaiah (India)
3. Balakeshavulu Jonnalagadd Adinarayana ( India)
Women’s Singles Standing Lower 3
Final
Neeraj (India) Vs Maria Guadalupe Rojas Perez (Mexico) 2-0 (21-11,21-14)
Podium
1. Neeraj
2. Maria Guadalupe Rojas Parez
3. Rose Nansereko (Uganda)
3. Amudha Saravanan (India)
Women’s Singles Standing Upper 5
Final
Arati Janoba Patil Vs Latika Latika (all Indians) 2-0 (21-16,21-15)
Podium
1. Arati Janoba Patil
2. Latika Katika
3. Swati Swati (India)
3. Sumin Mutesi (Uganda)
Women’s Singles Wheel Chair 1
Final
Juscileia De Carvalho Silva (Brazil) vs Sarah Nazziwa (Uganda) 2-1 (18-21,21-3,21-7)
Podium
1. Juscileia De Cavalho Silva
2. Sarah Nazziwa
3. Flavia Basuuta (Uganda)
3. Anusha Chidananda (India)
Men’s Singles Wheel Chair 1
Final
Konstantin Afinogenov (Israel) Vs Marcelo Alves Conceicao (Brazil) 2-0(21-19,24-22)
Podium
1. Konstantin Afinogenov
2. Marcelo Alves Conceicao
3. Poorna Rao Chapara (India)
3. Kantharajanak Ravinaik (India)
Women’s Singles Wheel Chair 2
Played on round robin
Podium
1. Ruchi Trivedi
2. Shana Shabana
3. Mary Nakhumicha Zakayo(Nigeria)
3. Elizabeth Atieno Ogonji (Nigeria)
Men’s Singles Wheel Chair 2
Final
Munna Khalid (India) Vs Julio Cesar Godoy (Brazil) 2-1 (14-21,21-19,21-18)
Podium
1. Munna Khalid
2. Julio Cesar Godoy
3. Nurul Hussein Khan (India)
3. Ali Mukasa (Uganda)
S-SH 6 Final
Sudarshan Saravanakumar Muthusamy Vs Nithin Thazhe (All India) 2-0 (21-10,21-6)
Podium
1. Sudarshan Saravanakumar Muthusamy
2. Nithin Thazhe
3. Latatai Parmeshwar Umrekar
3. Suresh Kumar Bokolia (India)