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Africa mixed championship gold medalist Fadilah Shamika Mohammed Rafi, Uganda's gold medal hopeful, failed at the semi-final hurdle like most Ugandan players.
The Uganda Junior badminton championships ended on Wednesday, March 1, at the MTN Arena, with the United Arab Emirates dominating most categories.
The event, which shuttled off on Monday, February 27, saw over 80 Ugandans and nationals from 7 nations compete in the men's, women's singles and men's and women's mixed doubles.
Africa mixed championship gold medalist Fadilah Shamika Mohammed Rafi, Uganda's gold medal hopeful, failed at the semi-final hurdle like most Ugandan players.
Fadilah lost to the eventual women's singles champion Taralaxmi Karthikeyan in straight sets 21-19, 23-24. The UAE citizen also defeated Ugandans Trisha Rhoda Kyuuka and Abigail Jemaimah Akoyo in the round of 32 and 16, respectively, en route to the Women's singles final.
In the Women's mixed doubles, Tracey Naluwoza and Shamika Mohammed Rafi lost in straight sets to UAE's Taabia Khan Maisha Omer Khan 21-19,21-16.
The Men's mixed doubles saw Guna Kusal and Regan Michael Nsubuga lose to Mauritius pair Bhavesh Bissessur and Aiden Yu Kiat in three sets. 21-15, 14-21, 23-25, but won bronze.
Fadilah Shamika managed two bronze medals in singles and women's doubles, where she played alongside Tracey Naluwoza. Uganda also registered bronze medal wins in the Men's and Mixed doubles.
The Uganda Badminton CEO Simon Mugabi credited the players for the excellent effort but emphasized that more events are coming up for Ugandan players to do better.
"We were able to have a smooth tournament without any hiccups also; Team Uganda's performance wasn't bad, these tournaments attract the best, but if we can reach the semis, then that's good," Mugabi said.
"We have more events like the world championships, the Olympics 2024, the Paralympics and All Africa games.”
“Therefore, we must participate in as many international events as possible to collect points,” he added.
Team Uganda, who managed ten bronze medals, will regroup and prepare for other upcoming badminton tournaments.
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