Husina Kobugabe and Gladys Mbabazi secured Uganda’s first gold medal at the ongoing African Games in Accra, Ghana on Sunday after winning the badminton Women’s Doubles final.
In the final played at Borteyman Sports Complex, Multi-purpose Hall, the Ugandan duo overcame Algeria’s Halla Bouksani and Tanina Violette Mammeri in straight sets.
The gold medal is also the first ever for Uganda in badminton at the African Games (All Africa Games) since the game got admitted in 2007.
Kobugabe and Mbabazi were delighted to have etched their names in the history books.
“We feel so happy, we are excited and overwhelmed. We thank everyone who has been behind us, the home support, our coaches and teammates,” said Kobugabe in an interview with Kawowo Sports.
She recounted how they nearly got eliminated at the round of 16 by Mauritius pair of Kate Jessica Lim Kee Ludik and Kobita Dookhee.
“We nearly got an upset at the round of 16 but when we eventually won, we did not look back. We came on the court with renewed energy and used our strength which is smashing and attacking and that helped us to win.” She added.
Mbabazi was equally happy about the victory and attributed their success to team work.
“I am so happy for having achieved this. I want to thank my coaches, the Federation and Government for the efforts and support,” she started.
“We had good chemistry with Husina and worked as a team. On court we were able to cover ourselves up. Definitely, training together for a long time helped us to know our strengths and weaknesses.” Mbabazi revealed.
Uganda scooped three medals from badminton on Sunday with Kobugabe adding silver in the women’s singles while Fadilah Shamika got bronze in the same category.
The three medals take Uganda’s tally in Ghana to seven, adding to Anna Gloria Muzito’s bronze in the women’s 100m freestyle race (swimming) and weightlifter Davis Niyiyota who won two silver medals (clean and jerk) and one bronze (snatch).
