CHENGDU WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES 
Host City: Chengdu, China
Dates: August 5
Events: Badminton Women’s singles & mixed doubles 
Venue: Shuangliu Sports Centre Gymnasium 

With Athletics dominating Uganda’s medal tally, two medals (gold and silver), the badminton players were determined to be among the contestants vying for the medals on Friday at Shuangliu Sports Centre Gymnasium.

Unfortunately, their dreams were shattered in the early morning hours of Friday.

Coach Freddie Kirabo passing on instructions to Kobugabe and Ssempiri

Ndejje University’s Husina Kobugabe was first on the court taking on India’s Akanksha where she lost both sets 21-12 and 21-17 in the women’s singles.

Husina seemed to be under intense pressure in the first few minutes which gave Matte a slight edge in scoring points.

“My movements were bad at the start and that affected me slightly,” Kobugabe said.

“She studied my game and I could not do the same while on the court because I was trying to stay focused,” Kobugabe added.

Before the climax of the first set, Husina seemed to have gained momentum over Matte even though, the Indian went to win.

Husina Kobugabe ready to take her shot

“Honestly, it was an evenly contested affair and I managed to score some good points,” she stated.

“I was a bit unlucky not to keep with her until the final set. However, am so proud of my game today considering that I was here to enjoy myself on the court,” Kobugabe noted.

Husina Kobugabe who reached the quarter-finals at the Mauritius Badminton Championships said that the Chengdu games are a different experience for her.

“I have competed at Commonwealth games before but this match at the Chengdu games felt different,” said the Bachelor of Human Resource Management student.

“At the Mauritius championships, I was seeded against an Indian still, but at least I had enough time to study her game, the time I did not have for this match,” she added.

Freddie Kirabo, coach in charge of the badminton team who personally invested a lot of resources such as providing equipment to the players during practice sessions while in Uganda felt that his players needed to be more aggressive.

“For Husina Kobugabe, she felt some pressure but generally I felt that she had a great game,” Kirabo said.

“However, her shots let her down and she lost the intensity towards the end and that affected the outcome of the match,” Kirabo noted.

Losing the second set with the slightest of margins, Kirabo believed Husina could have done better.

Ssempiri Abdulswaburuh

“We could have managed the Indian but we were working out a game plan while on the court. Then we also lost on tactics,” he added.

In the mixed doubles, Husina Kobugabe and Ssembiri Abudulswaburah were eliminated by India’s double pair, Rwambhiya Deep and Panda Rutaparna.

“From practice, my goal was to have a good double pairing but as you know when you do not much the intensity of their other pair, you lose,” Kirabo remarked.

Kirabo Freddie told vision sport after the badminton team was supposed that he was not impressed with the number.

“We practiced with many players but as you can see the numbers have reduced,”.

“I was a bit disappointed with that decision,” he added.

Uganda’s participation at the World University Games was also supported by National Insurance Corporation Limited  (NIC), who are their official Health Insurance Sponsor for the Chengdu World University Games in China.