KAMPALA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The world badminton governing body has selected Uganda to host the 2018 BWF Para-Badminton African Championship.
Simon Mugabi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Badminton Association (UBA) told Xinhua on Thursday that the Badminton World Federation (BWF) found Uganda better placed to host the first ever Para-Badminton African Championship.
"This is very good news for us because we are also working hard to develop Para-Badminton in Uganda and Africa as a continent. Last year we managed to successfully host the first Uganda Para-Badminton International Championship and we think we can host a much bigger event," he added.
Mugabi said the championship will run from April 30 to May 5th at the Lugogo Arena. "We are expecting close to ten African countries that are active with Para-Badminton to send players including Nigeria," added Mugabi.
He explained that since Para-Badminton has been included for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, they are eager to keep developing it so that Uganda stands high chances of sending a team for the event.
Mugabi said as a country they are very proud that they continue to host high profile tournaments sanctioned by the world federation. Last week Uganda hosted the Uganda International Open Championship and the Uganda Junior International Championship which climaxed on Wednesday.
Speaking about the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games to take place in Australia, Mugabi said the national team will start serious training this weekend. Uganda's team will have Luxembourg based professional Edwin Ekiring, Brian Kasirye, Bridget Shamim Bangi and Aisha Nakiyemba.