Uganda’s badminton staff has been present process intensive preparation for the 2025 All-Africa Senior Championships, set to happen in Douala, Cameroon from February 10-16, 2025.
A gaggle of eight gamers, comprising 4 girls and 4 males, has been coaching at Ndejje College in Bombo for the previous month.
This staff is crammed with each youth and expertise, boasting spectacular achievements in previous continental and international competitions.
Among the many standout gamers is Shamika Fadilah Mohammed Rafi, who has garnered consideration for her outstanding achievements.
In 2023, she made historical past as the primary Ugandan lady to win the All-Africa Badminton Senior Championships girls’s singles title, overcoming South Africa’s Johanita Scholtz in an exciting ultimate.
This victory got here after a collection of notable performances, together with a bronze medal within the 2021 Championships held in Kampala and a gold medal on the 2022 All-Africa Junior Championships in Mauritius.
Fadilah’s spectacular rise continues to encourage not solely Uganda but in addition Africa’s badminton scene.
Shamika Fadilah Mohammed.
As of February 2025, she ranks as Africa’s second seed with 16,021 factors, trailing solely Mauritius’s Kate Foo Kune by a slim margin.
Fadilah’s resilience is especially noteworthy contemplating her current setback—she narrowly missed qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics on account of an harm in Cairo.
Regardless of this, she stays targeted and decided to show herself in Cameroon, together with her eyes set on the 2028 Olympics.
Fadilah is a part of an distinctive quartet of ladies’s gamers, together with Husina Kobugabe, Gladys Mbabazi, and Tracy Naluwooza.
Tracy Naluwooza.
Collectively, they’ve elevated Uganda’s standing in African badminton.
In 2023, Kobugabe and Mbabazi gained a historic gold medal in girls’s doubles on the All Africa Video games in Ghana, alongside particular person successes, corresponding to Mbabazi’s silver medal and Fadilah’s bronze in the identical occasion.
These gamers have additionally represented Uganda at worldwide ranges, together with the BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2024 in Chengdu, China.
Though they didn’t win medals, their expertise on the world stage has made them stronger and extra aggressive.
The Ugandan staff’s braveness was acknowledged globally when a Chinese language author described them as “outclassed, however Uganda gained hearts.”
Whereas the lads’s staff has not garnered as a lot consideration, they’re no much less devoted.
Gamers like Agustus Owiny, Amos Muyanja, and Lubega Muzafaru have participated within the All Africa Video games and represented Uganda in varied worldwide competitions.
Kenneth Mwambu, one other robust contender, secured a bronze medal in males’s doubles on the All-Africa Senior Championships and performed within the 2022 Commonwealth Video games.
Presently, Owiny holds a rating of 14th in Africa, with 4,140 factors.
Augustus Owinyi.
Whereas the Ugandan staff shall be lacking key gamers like Kasirye Brian and Emudu Expendito each of whom contributed considerably to previous successes, head coach Kalimunda Ivan stays assured.
His staff has been working arduous, and with a concentrate on gold, they’re wanting to make their mark in Cameroon.
Shamika Fadilah stays longing for a profitable marketing campaign, stating that she’s motivated by her father’s fixed encouragement.
“I’m able to compete. Truthfully, I need to thank my dad for pushing me to achieve this degree,” she shared.
After finishing her Senior Six research, Fadilah is targeted totally on her badminton profession, setting her sights on qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Video games.
