Table tennis Bulaga picks up silver at the Special Olympics World Games

Special Olympics Uganda table tennis player Cleopatra Rhabaha Bulaga and the seven-team soccer team picked up silver medals at the end of the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin on Sunday.

At the Special Olympics, Bulaga fell to China’s Liu Linglin in the finals of the U17 D3 category and won the silver.

Bulaga had beaten Bazarbekova and Namuuntsetseg in straight sets, winning both 3-0 before falling to Liu.

Another Ugandan table tennis representative, Sharif Mugerwa, finished fourth behind Lebanon’s Abdallah Khalifeh, China’s Jian Chen and Honduras’ Miguel Varela Avila, who won gold, silver and bronze respectively.

In football, the Ugandan team, which appeared in the M2 category, fell to Germany-1 in the final and settled for silver. They had eliminated Germany 1 after a 4-0 win in the quarterfinals, while Germany-1 knocked out Switzerland 25-0.

Heading into the final, Uganda, who featured Moses Ssenyonga, Amjad Mawanda, Joshua Munanura, Ibrahim Businge, Michael Ndawula, Gerald Arobe and Jacob Eriya in many games, had drawn 2-2 with Hong Kong, losing 3-0. Ireland before they beat Switzerland 10-2 in the heats to storm the semi-finals.

Other team members included Mathias Kiiza, Joseph Alumansi, Cyrus Sseruwagi and Danny Mutungi. Uganda’s standout players in the tournament were captain Joshua Munanura and Jacob Eliya who scored 5 goals each in a tournament where Joseph Alumansi managed four.

Special Olympics Germany-2 finished third overall, while Switzerland and New Zealand finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The silver medal was an addition to the two gold medals previously won by swimmer Larry Feni in the 50-meter breaststroke and 25-meter freestyle.

The Ugandan team is sponsored for the games by the National Council of Sports.