Africa-Press – Uganda. Ndejje University presented a decimated squad to the inter-university games that were completed at Uganda Christian University, Mukono but still held their forte to win the 19th edition of the games.
The biannual event that was last held in 2019 at the University of Kisubi, saw Ndejje top the tally with 12 medals, eight of which were gold and four silver.
Ndejje, who thrive on a strong bursary scheme towards elite athletes, came top in athletics (men and women), men’s handball, karate (men and women), table tennis as well as woodball (women).
“We put emphasis on our players taking part in respective national leagues and I am happy that experience has enabled us to win the championship,” Wilfred Muhumuza, the Sports Tutor of the Luweero-based university, said.
Ndejje were outdid in men’s basketball where they deservedly lost to the hosts UCU in a lopsided final as well as losing the final battle in darts (men and women) to Kampala International University (KIU).
It was an exciting final day for the hosts UCU, who were in three finals on the last day as they finished second overall with six gold medals. Both their men and women volleyball teams won their respective finals while the netball team lost by just a point to powerhouses Victoria University 50-49.
Saviour
Juma Osunge, the women volleyball head coach was thrilled that the triumph is a stepping stone in restoring confidence in the university administration.
“The women volleyball scholarship program was hanging in balance and we badly needed this win,” Osunge said after his team beat Kampala University 3-1.
For the men, head coach John Kokas Oumo termed the win as ‘very important’ after coming from a set down to force a decider against well-composed Bugema University.
Although no one doubted UCU’s potential, as they are the strongest team in university volleyball, Paul Kamanyiro’s Bugema took the game to them.
“They showed up but this was a very important final for us and we had to go hard in the decider,” Oumo said.
UCU’s other gold medals were collected from tennis (men), basketball (men and women) as well as women football which was played on a round-robin format.
Special Victoria performance
Kyambogo, who dominated men’s woodball events with Trevor Oming’s stellar performances, was third with four gold medals but they also excelled in men’s chess, pool and scrabble (women)
The games will forever remain a special historical moment for Victoria University, whose deputy Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students cheered their teams with the last bead of their sweat.
With four medals, the sweetest must have been collected from the netball court, where they were challenged by UCU but emerged top with a 50-49 victory.
Powered with the zeal of veteran administrator Patrick Ssebuliba, the Victoria University netball team was one to beat with the likes of Shadia Nassanga and Christine Namulumba in their ranks.
Although head coach Rashid Mubiru was left to blame what he called poor officiating, his team did just enough to win their favourite colour which the fans kept chanting on the sidelines.
“When I joined the university in 2020, one of the things I promised the administration was to register good performances. This is what we just did,” said Ssebuliba. Last year, the university finished 12th in the Eastern Africa University Games.
Testing
But the timing of the games left many teams walking on straws as some of the players missed action due to the examinations.
The most affected university was Makerere and their sister institution Mubs, who had a number of athletes miss the sports action due to examinations.
“There’s nothing you can do. Academics takes the first priority and we did our best to present teams which we though would be competitive,” Brian Miiro, the Sports Tutor of Makerere said.
AUUS Games 2023: Medal tally
Gold Silver Bronze Total
Ndejje 8 4 – 12
UCU 6 4 1 11
Kyambogo 4 – – 4
KIU 3 3 – 6
Victoria 2 3 – 5
UMU-Nkozi 2 – – 2
Mubs – 5 5 10
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