Tornado Bees end eight-year drought with dominant title triumph
Five years of dominance from Aziz Damani, followed by two from the Kutchi Tigers in the last seven years, ushered in a new era that kept the Tornado Bees, among other traditional contenders, in the cold.
Tornado Bees' John Mpande (right) bats against GM Sugar at the Lugogo Cricket Oval. Photo by Michael Nsubuga
There was a time when it seemed like the days of winning the national cricket title were over for Tornado Bees.
Five years of dominance from Aziz Damani, followed by two from the Kutchi Tigers in the last seven years, ushered in a new era that kept the Tornado Bees, among other traditional contenders, in the cold.
But the 2026 season rolled back the years, with Tornado Bees recapturing the national crown following a dominant season, in which they won 6 of seven games in the CU Men’s 50 Overs League Gold Division.
Interestingly, it was not the hope of winning that necessarily kept the club together during the barren years.
“For us, winning was not the only motivation,” the club’s wicketkeeper batsman told New Vision Sport.
“We learnt that we have to enjoy ourselves even when we don’t win the trophy. That helped us to keep the team together. When you enjoy the game, you can stay in the game for much longer.”
And perhaps even win, as Tornado Bees did, clinching their first title in eight years after defeating JACC by 78 runs on Sunday at Jinja SS to clinch the title.