Uganda’s top tennis player Duncan Mugabe has been given the opportunity to feature in three International tournaments in Europe to determine if he can be granted a wildcard for the 2012 London Olympics.
Dennis Galabuzi, the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) Vice President told URN on Monday that they had received a letter from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) giving Mugabe the chance to play in the qualifiers.
Swimmer Ganzi Mugula was over the weekend awarded a wildcard to bring the number of swimmers for Uganda at the Olympics to two.
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Galabuzi explained that they will also facilitate Mugabe’s trip to the qualifiers because any additional athlete to the Ugandan contingent is good because it increases the chances of winning medals. Mugabe, who won bronze at the 2011 All Africa Games, is currently in the US undergoing training.
Zimbabwe’s Takanyi Garanganga is one of the African players who were last week awarded direct wildcards after his good ranking and the fact that he won gold at the 2011 All Africa Games. According to the ITF rules, the 56 world ranked tennis players including the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal already gained automatic qualification into the Olympics, while eight places will be given as wildcards to make it a 64 draw for the men’s singles.
So far Uganda has qualified 12 track and field athletes for the Games together with Africa’s best badminton player Edwin Ekiring and the two swimmers. But the country hopes to qualify more athletes before the end of June.
