Badminton: Ugandan girls capture Africa’s attention in Ghana

Soon after bagging gold in the badminton doubles at the All Africa Games (AAG) in Ghana over the weekend, Husina Kobugabe, 23, and Gladys Mbabazi, 25, were on the plane to France.

Together with their younger teammates, Tracy Naluwooza and Shamika Fadhila (winner of a singles bronze medal), both 18, the quartet have now turned their focus on qualifying for the 2024 Olympics, which would be a first in their careers.

Significant as it would be, qualifying for the Olympics, for now, the feat by Kobugabe and Mbabazi at the AAG is huge. The duo secured Uganda’s first-ever gold medals in badminton at a major international event, including the Olympics. It is proof of how badminton is holding forte now, to become a sport in which Ugandans can be reckoned with going forward.

“I cannot tell you how delighted we are as an association with this achievement. It is a mark of the strides we are making,” Annet Nakamya, the president of the Uganda Badminton Association, said.

At the moment, Uganda is ranked among the top five African badminton playing nations. But over the years, they have fielded top players like Edwin Ekiring and Shamim Bangi at the AAG, yet came short.

Something has surely given. Nakamya explained that unlike before, the association had little resources. Today, they receive Shs 300m from government, on top of the support they get from partners like City Tyres, to organize many local tournaments. But at the same time, fly out the players for international tournaments around the globe.

Just last month, Kobugabe and Mbabazi won silver in the doubles of the Thomas and Uber badminton tournament in Egypt. Kobugabe added a bronze while Fadhila won a silver in the singles category at the same event. Mbabazi actually lost to Fadhila in the semi-finals then.

Therefore, by the time they got to the AAG, they had undergone a lot of preparation through the competitions they were at in the build-up. Beyond that, these young women are now competing in Switzerland. Naluwooza and Fadhila were there between November and December last year.

In light of that, Kobugabe said she could not hide her delight about the success she and Mbabazi realized. But it is just the beginning, she believes.

They will definitely be aiming higher even though their first stop in Paris last week during the Olympics qualifiers, results did not go their way. But the fact that Kobugabe and Mbabazi won Uganda its first-ever gold medal at the AAG suggests that badminton cannot be looked down on anymore.

It is a real watershed moment for the sport to have more inspired to play it with belief that they can achieve greatness!