Uganda’s top women player Shamim Bangi showed her prowess by winning the Kisumu Invitational Badminton Championship that climaxed in Kisumu, Kenya on Sunday night.
Bangi, who also represented Uganda at the 2011 All Africa Games in Mozambique, beat Kenya’s Messy Josephs 21-12, 21-16 to lift the women’s singles title. Speaking to URN on phone from Kisumu, Bangi was excited after winning two women’s titles in three weeks. She recently bagged the ComputerPoint Open title.
The first year student of Ndejje University later paired with Rose Nakalya to defeat the Kenyan pair of Messy Joseph and Jemima Mangeni 21-17, 21-14 in the women's doubles final. Bangi was however on the losing side when she partnered with her coach William Kabindi and lost 2-0 to the pair of Abraham Wogute and Jemima Mangeni in the mixed doubles semi-final.
The two day tournament attracted over 100 players from Uganda, Tanzania and hosts Kenya. Wogute, who also represented Uganda at the Commonwealth Games in India, but is now based in Kenya, failed to play the men’s singles finals against Victor Odera after suffering muscle cramps. Wogute and Mangeni dispatched the pair of Patrick Ruto and Messy Josephs 2-0 in the mixed doubles final.
Makerere University’s Isaac Ssenfuka lost out in the quarter finals of the men’s singles and also got ejected in the mixed doubles semi-finals with Rose Nakalya.
In the junior category, Rubaga Girls School’s Sylvia Nalunga was a runner-up in the Under 19s, while David Senono also fell in the boys’ final. Rubaga Girls also finished top in the overall standings, while another Ugandan school, Kakungulu Memorial School came second.
