Fide Master, Harold Wanyama claimed the third edition of the Kawuma Open that kick-started last Friday at Tick Hotel Kawempe.
Seeded 4th in the country, Wanyama who had an excellent start to the Open had to stretch beyond his limits to get back to winning ways after losing the Fourth Round to 10th seed Allan Mathias Sonko.
The Olympian fought back after stumbling in the fourth round to win his remaining games. He beat Joseph Kaamu and Emmanuel Mwaka before outwitting International Master (IM) Elijah Emojong who was the defending champion in the 7th Round in a closely contested game.
He then crowned the event with victory over Haruna Nsubuga to record 7.0 points thus winning his first Kawuma Open. Wanyama scooped the top prize of 1m Uganda shillings and a trophy.
Uganda’s number one seed Arthur Ssegwanyi who was one of the title favourites suffered a mishap in the 5th and 6th Round after drawing with nemesis Emojong and losing to Nsubuga.
Ssegwanyi settled for the 3rd position with 6.5 points.
The event saw the defending champion Emojong crash out of the top five following his losses in the last two rounds. Emojong who started the tournament brilliantly with victories over Peter Kiberu, Samuel Edongot and Rajab Kamoga in the first three rounds managed only one win in the last five.
The second seed drew with fellow IM Ssegwanyi and the national team’s coach Bob Bibasa before losing his last two games to Wanyama and Sonko, pushing him down to 14th with only 5.0 points.
Patrick Kawuma, Nsubuga and Bibasa completed the top five and alongside Ssegwanyi and Wanyama, qualify for the Zonal Championship due April.
Kenya’s Candidate Master, Ben Magana finished 10th with 5.5 points.
Clare Ivy Amoko won the ladies category with also 7.0 points and walked away with 700,000Ugx. Phiona Mutesi, Joyce Kabengano, Christine Namaganda and Gorreti Angolikin complete the top five.
Stella Babirye last year’s champion in the ladies category finished 8th with 4.5 points and misses out on the team that will compete in Dar el Salaam Tanzania.
