Successful players:
Queens Palace – Jinja
- Eric Okwi
- Umar Ssempijja
- Silas Waiswa
Bisinia Hunters – Soroti
- Sam Ecum
- Sam Ochen
- Sam Oiko
The name ‘Sam’ was on song when the Nile special national pool championship qualifiers were held at Bisinia Hunters in Soroti.
Sam Ecum, Sam Ochen and Sam Oiko all qualified for the national pool championship from Bisinia Hunters pub in Soroti over the weekend.
Soroti veteran Joseph Epodoi (a medical doctor), who was seeking for his third consective appearence at the grand finals, was one of the major casualties that fell prey to Richard Arogi 3-1 in the opening round.
But the doctor’s failure could be traced to his name; nothing really technical, seeing that all the top three qualification slots went to players by the name “Sam”.
Yet also by virtue of his name, Arogi’s hopes were cut short by Samuel Ochen in the semifinals.
Arogi further lost the third place playoff 3-0 to another Samuel; the regional defending champion Samuel Oiko.
The one-sided final was a battle of “Sams” that ended with Sam Ecum comprehensively defeating Ochen 4-0 in the best of seven final.
In Jinja, Eric Akwi dominated from start to finish a run that was highlighted by clean sweeps in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
Akwi participating in the Nile Special Pool Open for the first time since 2012, said that his only big challenger was his first round opponent Sebbi Onito, whom he defeated 3-1. His second round opponent Side Richard also fell by the same margin.
But from the quarterfinal through to the final, Akwi dropped no game, yet among his huddles was the regional defending champion Silas Waiswa, whom he brushed aside 4-0 in the best of seven semifinal.
Umar Ssempijja was then left as the man to finally stop Akwi.
But his fate was similar to that suffered by all throughout the night. He fell to a 5-0 defeat in the best of nine final. With such a dominant display Akwi had Jinja buzzing with optimism of driving away with the tournament’s ultimate prize; a brand new car.
In Mbale, the oldest player Sulaiman Wada, 45, booked a slot to feature at the Nile Special Pool Open grand finale in spite a 4-0 final defeat to Fred Mulafu.
The best three players in each region book slots to the grand finale slated to be played on Saturday, 24 October at the MTN Arena, Lugogo.
