The Uganda table tennis association leadership has earmarked the year 2026 as a year of grassroot development and spreading of the sport nation-wide. The focus will be on the revival of the national schools and regional championships.
The Uganda table tennis association (UTTA) president Cyrus Muwanga has defined his first six months in office as successful with revival of the national Open championship after ten years headlines the success.
“Uganda Open which we have brought back after ten years, the turn up was good at Kabojja international school and we saw exactly what we wanted to see,” noted Muwanga.
Despite a bright start to the leadership, Muwanga’s leadership has faced a number of challenges, including lack of government funding.
“We found a lot of petitions but most of the petitions were against the former president who is no longer in office. We have tried to speak to the petitioners asking them to withdraw and stop the endless petitions if indeed they are for the interest of the sport,” added Muwanga.
He also acknowledged the fact that sometimes the government funding comes in too late.
“You are already in arrears and the service providers are calling you and it makes it hard for you to effectively do your work as an association. But I know the government operates in ways that sometimes those of us who are just coming in need to understand better. We are very hopeful that money for the second quarter will be coming in.”
He however looks forward to a more successful 2026 in which the national school championship returns after ten years while starting a regional championship also remains a priority.
“2026 again is also going to be an action pact. February, we have the school’s tournament, soon we shall have the GMS Open, we have four regional championships, we have another Uganda open, we are heading to Rwanda with the ladies’ team. We have a lot planned for the table tennis playing fraternity.”
The Schools championship helps in discovery of talents for stronger national teams.
