Category: Sports

Coco Gauff claims first French Open title after fightback floors Aryna  

In her half-decade competing at the highest level, Coco Gauff has built an impermeable reputation for her toughness in battle. No matter the significance of the occasion or the state of her strokes, she will fight with everything at her disposal and make life incredibly difficult for any opponent. More often than not, she will find a way through.

Across the net from the best player in the world in one of the most important occasions of her career, Gauff showed the full magnitude of her grit and durability to topple Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 and win her first French Open title.

When Gauff first emerged on the tour as a precocious 15-year-old in 2019, many people had doubts about whether she would be able to live up to the hype and establish herself as a major champion. She has had well-documented struggles with her serve and forehand, and every step of her journey has been scrutinised. Regardless of the difficulties and setbacks, she just kept on working. At just 21 years old she is now a two-time grand slam champion.

 

Since losing her first final at Roland Garros in 2022 aged 18, Gauff has won her two subsequent grand slam finals and now holds a 10-3 record in finals overall. “I was going through a lot of things when I lost in this final three years ago,” said Gauff. “I’m just happy to be here, a lot of dark thoughts. Just the fact that I stayed to it just means a lot.”

 

This victory also underlines the importance of remaining patient. After a difficult start to the season, Gauff found her form on the red clay, reaching finals at the Madrid Open and Italian Open. Gauff lost to Sabalenka in two tough sets in Madrid before squandering a significant opportunity against Jasmine Paolini in Rome. In the biggest clay court tournament of all, she rose to the occasion. “I got the most important one, so I guess that’s all that matters,” she said.

 

 

El Jadida, Morocco | FUFA.COM | The Uganda U17 national team, the Cubs, have made history by becoming the first Ugandan football team ever to qualify for a FIFA World Cup tournament after a hard-fought 2-1 victory over The Gambia in a high-stakes playoff in Morocco.

 

 

In a thrilling match held at Stade El Abdi in El Jadida, Morocco, Uganda overcame an early setback to secure the win that booked their place at the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar. Gambia’s Ahmed Njundu Kanyi struck in the first minute to give the Baby Scorpions an early lead, but Uganda responded brilliantly.

 

Forward James Bogere was the hero of the day, netting a first-half brace in the 13th and 33rd minutes to flip the game in Uganda’s favour.

His clinical finishing and relentless work ethic led a spirited display from the young Cubs, who showed impressive attacking flair and tactical discipline.

 

The second half saw Uganda hold firm under pressure, with Coach Brian Ssenyondo’s side displaying remarkable composure and defensive resilience to protect their lead until the final whistle.

This playoff fixture was created after CAF received an additional qualification slot to the U17 World Cup.

It pitted the two third placed teams in group A and C respectively from the 2025 U17 AFCON Uganda and Gambia against each other in a winner-takes-all clash for the first two of Africa’s remaining ticket to Qatar.

With this monumental victory, Uganda has not only secured a spot at the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup but also etched their name in the annals of the country’s sporting history.

 

This marks Uganda’s first-ever qualification for a World Cup tournament at any age level.

The result is a major milestone for Ugandan football and a testament to the growing development of youth football structures in the country. The Cubs’ achievement will undoubtedly inspire future generations and elevate Uganda’s profile on the global stage.

 

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SOURCE: Adapted from FUFA.COM

There was mockery and public outrage in mid-November as FUBA, the men’s basketball governing body came out and declared that a lack of funding had resulted into a forced withdrawal from the prestigious basketball World Cup qualifiers to held in Angola.

Arnold Katabi, who is the Vice President in charge of Media and Publishing at the Federation of Uganda’s Basketball Association said that there were no funds to help the team attend the first window of the qualifiers in Angola.

The issue has now been resolved and the team is set, but it is jarring recurrence of an all-too-comon problem in our beloved country.

Just a month ago, the same basketball team endured drama in Rwanda during the Afrobasket Championship where they were detained at their hotel over unpaid bills and had to to be bailed out at the last second by the government.

While preparing for the AfroBasket, the team had also planned to have a two week training camp in Egypt prior to the AfroBasket but this was not possible as the team had no funds.

The financial constraints date back to July, 2021, when the Silverbacks automatically qualified for Afrobasket 2021 after beating hosts Morocco in Rabat 77-65.

The team which had travelled to Morocco on borrowed money had hoped the NCS would reimburse the money upon return to clear the debts.

FUBA says when they informed NCS about the need for financial support for the finals and reimbursement of the Morocco expenses, they were informed that there was no money.

Not just basketball

Back in February this year, Sports federations under their newly formed Union of Uganda Sports Federations and Associations- UUSFA have complained about the unfair distribution of funds among sports federations in the country.

The issue came up during a meeting between the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga and the leadership of Uganda Sports Federations and Associations 

According to UUSFA, the country lacks a sports funding policy which leaves many sports federations in the dilemma of facilitating their activities while others are fully funded.

“Sports in Uganda is so underdeveloped and this is because of the absence of a sports funding policy. It is very unfortunate that Ugandan sports funds are spent without the necessary enabling law/policy which would have guided us all on how and where to spend our sports funds allocated by parliament,” read a statement presented by Robert Jaggwe, the UUSFA secretary-general.

According to Jaggwe, the federations only get funds after intense and unprofessional lobbying.

 

almost 10 months later and there is no tangible change.

Uganda is still operating haphazardly, merely stumbling along, depending on hope and last minute hail-Marys.

But WHY?

When these athletes win, we are all proud of them. Governmnet officilas line up to shake thei =r hands and congratulate them, get a photo moment to show they were part of it.

But what happens before? What happens after? where are the government officials and national pride when our athletes need them to facilitate their trainings and international enagements?

where is the effort to nurture the next crop of Ugandan stars?

Or do we only want to enjoy the success without being part of the effort?

Are we okay with being forever mediocre?

These questions need answers.

 

 

At age 15, she debuted internationally on Ethiopia’s junior squad at the 2001 world cross-country championships, where she placed fifth. She continued with junior-level silver medals in cross-country and on the track in 2002. She won the world junior cross-country title in 2003, set a 5,000-metre junior world record and won gold in the 5,000 metres at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) world track and field championships, making her the youngest-ever world champion in her sport.

Her sister, Genzebe, is not doing badly in sports. Ejegayehu, who is their older sister, is also an Olympian who won silver from Athens. Their cousin, Derartu Tulu, was the first Black African woman to win Olympic gold in the 1992 games. She won another Olympic gold medal in Sydney in 2000.

“It’s not a stretch to say they are the world’s fastest family”, Ato Boldon, NBC’s track analyst, told Vogue in 2016. The sisters have remained a household name in Ethiopia, a country that has produced some of the world’s greatest runners, alongside Kenya.

The mother of the Dibaba sisters told Vogue that the siblings are successful thanks to the environment they were raised in, especially the ready supply of milk they get from the family cows. According to Vogue, author David Epstein has said that much of Ethiopia and Kenya lies in an altitude “sweet spot” high enough to cause physiological changes but not so high that the air is too thin for hard training.

The runners’ feat is also attributed to their diet — especially teff rich in iron and calcium — and their “small lightweight frame”. The Dibaba sisters have the body type good for sports, analysts say. Boldon said in 2016 that if one compares the sisters to a car, they would be a Ford Focus with a Ferrari engine.

The Dibabas are good at sports but they don’t really like watching sports. They prefer movies, especially Amharic films, said Tirunesh, who in 2008 married fellow track-and-field Olympic medalist Sileshi Sihine in a nationally televised wedding ceremony.

And just like other successful athletes, the Dibabas have invested their monies back into their communities. The sisters, alongside their in-laws, are real estate moguls owning several buildings in Addis Ababa. Still, the sisters continue to shine brightly in the sports world.

Uganda’s athletes did the country proud in the recently concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan. 

Peruth Chemutai became the first Ugandan woman to win an Olympic medal as she took gold in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase on day 12 of the Tokyo Games.

 

The 22-year-old Ugandan timed 9min 01.45sec at the Olympic Stadium, outsprinting American Courtney Frerichs with 250 metres to go to win comfortably.

Frerichs claimed silver in 9:04.79 with Kenyan Hyvin Kiyeng taking bronze (9:05.39).

“After my fifth place at the world championships in Doha, I knew a medal would be possible if I run a good race,” said Chemutai.

Chemutai definitely made Uganda proud, and will be remembered as the first woman to win Olympic gold.

Meanwhile, Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo helped Uganda win 2 medals in the same race for the first time ever. They achieved this in the men’s 10,000m final

 

Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo won silver and bronze medals respectively for Uganda in the men’s 10,000m final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Cheptegei clocked a Season Best 27:43.63 ahead of Kiplimo who clocked 27:43.88 in the epic event at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.

Cheptegei, the world record holder, was widely expected to win gold. However, he was upset by Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega who finished ahead by a matter of microseconds.

Cheptegei said he was experiencing mixed emotions.

“I have two feelings. One is that I’m very happy to have won an Olympic silver medal today,” he told reporters. “But the other side of me is really not satisfied with the result because I came here expecting to win a gold.”

Stephen Kissa acted as the early pacemaker before dropping out a little over halfway through the race.

“We had a plan for me to go ahead to make it a fast race,” Kissa told reporters. “I thought they were going to follow me but when I looked round they were not there.”

Cheptegei led briefly before dropping back into the pack and Barega seized his chance, moving among the leaders in the last third of the race before hitting the front with a surge on the last lap to secure his surprise victory.

 


Silverbacks fly high in Rwanda, but fall short amid financial struggles.

Uganda’s basketball team, the Silverbacks, was in Rwanda this month for the  Afrobasketball tournament. The team was drawn in a ‘Group of Death’, containing heavyweights Nigeria and Cameroon, and had not won a single game at the tournament in its two previous appearances.

In a pleasant twist, the team surpasssed expectations and emerged from the group by beating Cameroon and Nigeria, after losing to South Sudan and Senegal.

They progressed to the quarters where they faced Cape Verde and fell short in their bid to reach the semi finals.

Creighton College  freshman and rising star Arthur Kaluma had 18 of his team-leading 21 points after halftime to lead a spirited comeback, but it wasn’t enough as Cape Verde eliminated Uganda with a 79-71 victory.

This ended the tournament on a mixed note for Uganda, with feelings of pride mingling with disappointment at what could have been.

However, the team had financial challenges that may have hindered it, as it  was at risk of being kicked out of the AfroBasket championships because it didn’t have sufficient funds to cover its expenses.

Nasser Sserunjogi, the head of Uganda’s basketball federation FUBA, told AFP the team needed to find about 360 million Ugandan shillings ($100,000) to meet their expenses in Kigali.

“We may fall on our promise to pay and get disqualified, a major embarrassment to the country,” he said, describing it as a “worrying situation.”

The Silverbacks were relying on credit from the sport’s international body FIBA to cover costs such as accommodation, meals and flight tickets and were initially given an August 29 deadline to pay up or be disqualified.

The team sent a distress letter about their plight to Uganda’s First Lady Janet Museveni and the country’s sports and education minister seeking financial help.

The basketball federation later announced that they had received Sh188million they needed to settle hotel bills.

The development followed conflicting reports in the morning that the
team had been stopped from leaving by their hotel, that denied it.
Earlier reports also indicated that the Rwanda basketball federation
Fewaba had decided to clear the bill on behalf of the Ugandans.

This begs the question, why does Uganda allow its sports teams to operate in such dire straits? Why can’t there be ready, adequate and timely support for our beloved athletes who work so hard to represent our country?

Despite the financial challenges the team faced, they did us proud.  Uganda had never before reached the quarter-finals of the AfroBasket championships.

We also witnessed the continued rise of teenage sensation Arthur Kaluma, who had put up a man-of-the-match performance to inspire Uganda past a stubborn Morocco side 77-65 at the Salle El Bouazzaoui and ultimately qualify the Silverbacks to a historic third straight FIBA AfroBasket.

Kaluma made 8-of-16 field goal attempts to score his 21 points, adding three rebounds in 33 minutes in the quarter final loss to Cape Verde, and finished the tournament averaging 13.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.