Nakiyemba keeps Olympic dream alive

Despite losing to Kate Foo Kune in the Mauritius International Badminton Open, Uganda seed two Aisha Nakiyemba is determined to continue amassing points in order to fulfil her dream of playing at the Olympics.

Nakiyemba started off well beating Jeisha Chiniah 2-0 (21-11, 21-8) and Lofnial Bodha (21-18, 21-18) in the first and second round respectively before she lost to the Olympian and her most experienced opponent 2-0 (21-12, 21-11).

But her quarterfinal finish was enough to earn her 1370 points which she hopes to build on in subsequent tournaments in Ivory Coast and Benin, starting next week, if she secures funds to travel.

"I lost to Kate but got some good points which will propel me to the top 200 which is good for me; she is the number one in Africa so she was a stronger opponent," Nakiyemba currently ranked 321 in the world said.

"My chances of making it to the top 100 are now possible if I can compete in more international tournaments and perform better. Hopefully that will help me improve my ranking and be able to join the race for the road to Tokyo," Nakiyemba noted.      

Currently Nakiyemba has 4930 points but needs to accumulate over 19000 points to realize her dream.

"There are so many tournaments in Africa and outside so it all depends on whether I can be able to travel for those tournaments and get more quarter and semifinal finishes for me to get there,"    

Because of the few tournaments in Uganda she has found herself having to travel to Kenya and other African countries in order to fulfil her dream.