A group stage to commence proceedings, first and second progressing to the main draw, Brian Mutua secured top spot ahead of Ethiopia’s Aden Tesfeye, Tanzania’s Masoud Mtalaso and Uganda’s Sentamu Atwif. Never extended the full five games distance, when matches became best of seven games in the main draw, the good form was maintained.

At the semi-final stage, he beat colleague, Josiah Wandera (11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 11-6, 11-8), prior to overcoming the host nation’s Eddy Omongole (11-9, 11-9, 11-5, 11-9) to seal the title.

In the opposite half of the draw Eddy Omongole reserved top spot in his group ahead of Uganda’s Jona Senyonga and Djibouti’s Ahmed Mohamed Djamal. A semi-final place booked; he beat Aden Tesfeye (12-14, 11-8, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6, 11-8) to secure his place in the title decider.

Close call in group stage

A relatively smooth passage to the final for Bryan Mutua, it was very different for Marta Meshesha; she finished in first position in her group but was stretched to the limit by Uganda’s Ludia Natunga (11-2, 9-11, 9-11, 11-2, 12-10). Second place was the eventual lot of Ludia Natunga ahead of Somalia’s Mahdi Mohamed Dheman and Eritrea’s Sarah Fesahaye Mengistab.

Progress, a semi-final place reserved, Marta Meshesha experienced no further drama; she accounted for Uganda’s Amina Lukaya (11-9, 11-6, 11-4, 15-13) and Tanzania’s Neem Mwaisyula (11-7, 11-1, 11-9, 11-9) to secure the title.

Notably, at the quarter-final stage, Neem Mwaisyula, who had finished in second place in her group behind Amina Lukaya, ended the progress of Ludia Natunga in a similar contest to that experienced by in the group stage by Marta Meshesha. She prevailed by the very narrowest of seven game margins (11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 14-12, 7-11, 11-9), before overcoming Ethiopia’s Saba Alemu (11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4) to reserve her place in the final.

Andrew Mudibo

A successful first venture, understandably, Andrew Mudibo, member of the ITTF Board of Directors and President of the Eastern Africa Region was delighted.

“This is the first time that Uganda has hosted the regional event; there is room for improvement in organising such events in future. We do look forward to seeing improvement not just in Uganda but the whole region so that our level of organisation and standards can be at par with the rest of the Africa and the world. We look forward to future events being held across the region as this is what will improve the performance of our players in major continental and international events.” Andrew Mudibo

Bryan Mutua and Marta Meshesha now join Nigeria’s Fatimo Bello and Ivory Coast’s Oba Oba Kitizo, the recently crowned West Africa champions at the 2020 ITTF Africa Cup in Tunisia, the event also being as a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifying event.