Parvin Nangonzi, 13, readies her self to serve the ball during the final round of trials at the MTN Lugogo Indoor Arena, Kampala. She is among the four players who qualified for the Commonwealth Games (Credit: David Isabirye)

Successful Uganda Table Tennis players qualified to Commonwealth Games:

  • Florence Seera
  • Jemimah Nakawala
  • Parvin Nangonzi
  • Rita Nakhumitsa

Four Ugandan female Table Tennis players qualified for the Commonwealth Games that will take place in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

These are; Florence Seera, Jemimah Nakawala, Parvin Nangonzi and Rita Nakhumitsa.

This followed the final round of the grueling qualifiers held at the MTN Indoor Arena, Lugogo on Sunday, 29th May 2022.

Jemimah Nakawala and Parvin Nangonzi (yellow) on the Table at the MTN Indoor Arena, Lugogo. Both players qualified for the Commonwealth Games (Credit: David Isabirye)

Of these four players, two are teenagers; Nakawala, 12 and Nangonzi, 13 both at Nakasero Primary School in P6 and P7 respectively.

Seera topped the standings after 10 rounds with Nakawala coming second.

Rita Nakhumitsa against Florence Seera (red head scarf) during the Table Tennis trials at the MTN Indoor Arena in Lugogo (Credit: David Isabirye)

Nangonzi was third as the country’s top seed Nakhumitsa finished fourth in the rankings.

“I am humbled for the performance. It has really been grueling right from the start. We shall continue to prepare ourselves with intensive training” Seera revealed to Kawowo Sports.

Florence Seera ready to serve the ball during the last Table Tennis qualifiers (Credit: David Isabirye)

The trials at Lugogo followed the physical fitness and adherence assessment that had been held at Demelloz Indian Association Restaurant (now called Baguma’s Restaurant) in Kampala.

The drills assessed during the physical fitness and adherence exercises included; FH ball to ball footwork, alternating FH and BH ball to ball, looping and blocking, looping with footwork, smaching and lobbying full table, short back and spin service, short top spin service, long back spin service, service and attack as well as counter looping.

Rita Nakhumitsa prepares herself to serve the ball during the final round of trials at the MTN Indoor Arena, Lugogo (Credit: David Isabirye)

Uganda Table Tennis Association (UTTA) president Robert Jjagwe expressed delight upon the successful completion of these trials as he lauded several stakeholders.

UTTA will soon announce the top 4 ranking of trials. We therefore wish to encourage the players to continue training very hard to bring glory to Uganda in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The ranking series will serve to give us the final ranking of players ahead of the Birmingham games. We also thank all the coaches, sponsors and schools for the great support given to these players to prepare them for these final trials.

Robert Jjagwe, President, Uganda Table Tennis Association (UTTA)
Robert Jjagwe, the Uganda Table Tennis Association President addressing the media at the MTN Indoor Arena, Lugogo in Kampala (Credit: David Isabirye)

The Commonwealth Games will take place between 28th July to 8th August 2022 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Uganda will field a team in Table Tennis (girls), Rugby, Weightlifting, Netball and Athletics.

David Isabirye is a senior staff writer for Kawowo Sports where he covers most of the major events.

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