After a successful round of regional qualifiers in Northern Uganda last weekend, focus now switches to Central region in the heart of Kampala.
The Regional Qualifiers week 3 that were hosted in different parts of Uganda last weekend left the usual suspects eliminated after failing to qualify for the grand finals.
Arua Shocks:
Last year’s regional representatives like Arua’s Kazaro Jimmy and Swadiz Aziku could not even skip the first round.
Others like Edema Hazard and Hakim Taban who have also been regulars at the Grand Final representing the Northern Region didn’t survive the second round in Arua.
Instead, room was created for two upcoming stars to appear at the grand final stage for the first time.
These were Alex Drate and Didi Jahid.
Didi Jahid had to first beat his younger brother at semi-finals whom he defeated 3-2 in the best of 5 frames.
Despite losing to Drate on the finals 4-3 after going 3-0 a head, Didi says this is his chance to prove that there are many more talented pool players in the region.
Emanuel Choul who surprisingly beat Kibirige Kranimah in the 2011 grand finals didn’t find any problem to defeat Jamal Ali in the loser’s game to claim the third place and guarantee himself a slot at the Grand Final.
Last Saturday, action continued at Amigos in Gulu and Hawai Sport in Lira. There were two new faces in each of those regions.
At the Gulu Regional Center, it was a battle between two districts Kitgum and Gulu.
Jimmy Okello who is a businessman in Kitgum was the happy man at Amigos when he beat Nelson Agaba at his own home in Gulu.
Agaba who enjoyed a lion’s share of the fans due to the home advantage led 2-0 against Okello. Okello came back to win two straight frames to equalize.
Agaba claimed the third frame only to lose the next two straight frames to the more composed Okello. Okello claimed the Regional title with a 4-3 win.
Bob Kilama who is also hails from Kitgum claimed the third place after walloping Olumu Francis 3-0 in the third place match. At the quarterfinals, Gulu had only two players against Kitgum’s six.
Okello is still remembered in 2012 finals when he lost to Wasswa Kayiya in a hotly contested quarterfinal debacle.
“My first time was characterized with lots of challenges. I have over the years improved on my skills and my fans should expect my best performance in this year’s finals‘’ said Okello.
This coming weekend, Kampala is set to host the regional in the central division.
On Friday, the shoot out at Shade Bar William Street will be the host while Saturday action will be held at Indigo Bar and at Lumas Pub along Namirembe Road.
Northern Uganda Qualifiers:
Friday 27th June 2014
OASIS INN ARUE
1. Drate Alex
2. Didi Jahid
3. Emanuel Choul
Saturday 28th June 2014
AMIGOS GULU
4. Okello Jimmy
5. Agaba Nelson
6. Kilama Bob
HAWAI LIRA
1. Awira Denis
2. Anyira Silva
3. Ogwang Gody