Nyaika, Nambozo star in Balls of Fury
In the line of duty. Detective ASP Ronald Nyaika was the winner in the men’s category during the balls fury tournament in Jinja over of the weekend.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
Jinja- Ideally, sports and tourism should be bedfellows.
But in Uganda, it is only a handful that will develop a concept to fuse the two and pull it off.
Last weekend, Uganda Table Tennis Association (UTTA), in conjunction with Round Bob and Castle Lite held a sports and tourism tournament titled ‘Balls of Fury’, and to their credit, things turned out to perfect.
The idea was to treat table tennis players and the general public to a two-day sport and recreation-filled action. It started on Saturday with table tennis action between national players (men and women) and the amateurs/corporates.
In the senior men’s category, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ronald Nyaika, the top seed, showed early intent by overcoming Moses Mpabwa 3-1 in the quarter-finals, before beating Alex Wagumire 3-1 in the semis.
With a trophy in sight, Nyaika got into ruthless mode and dispatched Ivan Wamusi 3-0. The latter had beaten Jude Mutete 3-0 in the other semi-final tie. In the men’s corporates/amateurs, Samuel Knobeloch beat Tony Birungi 3-1 to win a fully-paid trip to Dubai, courtesy of Round Bob. Halima Nambozo and Lydia Natunga both swept their semi-final opponents; Zura Khaukha and Mercy Nabusano, respectively. In the titanic final, Nambozo put up a steely performance to win 3-2.
On Sunday, the tourism bit came in with boat cruises, music and pool side parties. And for obvious reasons, Jinja, with its famous tourism hangouts, served the players and revelers to a good experience.
