Chandiga, Sejjemba lose thrilling Chinese battle to exit in prelims

Uganda’s pair of Ibrahim Sejjemba and Caesar Chandiga’s involvement in 11th edition of the World Heyball Masters in Qinhuangdao, China is over following a ding-dong battle in the qualifying rounds.

Chandiga lasted longer, playing a game more than Sejjemba but was eliminated on Sunday after losing his second life in the double eliminator tournament.

Only three Africans, Jason Theron (S. Africa), Abdalla Hussein (Tanzania) and Zimbabwe’s Tendai Mubawa progressed to the main draw.

Sejjemba, the reigning Pool King, whitewashed South African lady player Priscilla Moodley 13-0 in his first engagement while Chandiga narrowly defeated Mongolian Nyamdorj Burneedon 11-9.

After suffering a chastening defeat at the hands of Northern Irish player Mark McCauley 13-8 in the second game, Sejjemba dropped into the losers’ side of the bracket.

He found in English Benjamin Tanner an immovable object, going down 13-7.

All Ugandan hopes were at this point vested in Chandiga, who still had both lives. His 13-9 win over Bahrain’s Hussain Yaqoob set him on course for a duel with experienced South African Jason Theron who beat him 13-5 to end the Ugandan’s adventure.

Lessons

Both Sejjemba and Chandiga did not look out of place, and pulled off shots many felt they would be unable to do at the start of the tournament - and such experience will be invaluable should they continue to mix pool and heyball.

Against Yaqoob, for instance, Chandiga was trailing 3-0 after losing the opening racks but bounced back to force an equaliser and when he took the lead, there was no looking back.

Yet for Sejjemba, he showed his potting prowess with cute cannons on the balls and some long pots.

But his inexperience cost him important games especially against McCauley when he surrendered a mammoth six games with poor snookering abilities that his opponent swept to conclusion.

For Chandiga, when he faced Theron, he continuously run out of positions and the South African stepped in to clear the table.

Huge miss

The Heyball Masters is the most lucrative cue sports event in the world with a total cash prize of $1.5m and boasts of a monstrous cash prize of $730,000 (Shs2.6b) for the winner, which attracts top players to the tournament.

Having been eliminated in the qualifiers the pair misses the minimum bonus of $3,000 (Shs10m). 20 players from the international qualifiers will now join the 64-man grand final consisting 32 Chinese and 12 international invited stars.

Both players will now shift focus to the Pool Association of Uganda (PAU) Grand Open, on the last weekend of April in Kansanga, with both Sejjemba and Chandiga set to capture the title from last year’s surprise winner Kenneth Odong. Rashida Mutesi will be gunning for the third title among the women.

11th World Heyball Masters

Selected results

C. Chandiga 11-9 Nyamdorj Burneedon

I. Sejjemba 13-0 Priscilla Moodley

Mark McCauley 13-8 I. Sejjemba

Benjamin Tanner 13-7 I. Sejjemba

C. Chandiga 13-9 Hussain Yaqoob

C. Chandiga 5-13 Jason Theron