Young Bomber Isaac Masembe and David Ssemujju will return to Uganda with silver medals each at the 2019 All Africa Games.
Despite losing in the final on Thursday, David Ssemujju and Isaac Masembe settled for silver medals in the featherweight and middleweight categories respectively.
The night before, after knocking out Algerian Oussama Mordjane in the semi-final, Masembe had kept the Bombers’ contingent waiting at the gym. Masembe had trained until 2 am, hoping to achieve his dream of gold but it did not reach fruition at the Al Amal Indoor Centre.
“The cut above his right eye cost him,” said Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo, boxing’s team manager from National Council of Sports.
“He was hit many times there and he did not settle thereafter.”
Masembe ended up guarding himself in the first round and could not pick the desired momentum.
After the fight, Masembe took a while with the doctors as he needed a medical examination.
“It was brutal,” Kigongo described the fight. He settled for silver, Uganda’s best highest podium finish in the ring in two decades.
The good performance by the Ugandan boxer could be attributed to the facilities and support back home.
At the start of this year, the senior presidential advisor for special operations Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba supported boxing teams with two pairs of boxing gloves making a total of 80 pairs (sh17.2m), one punching bag each team making a total of 40 punching bags (sh10.4m) and two punching pads per team making a total of 80 pairs (sh6.8m).
The total monetary contribution for all this equipment was sh34.4m.
Gen Kainerugaba has also been supporting several sports disciplines including football, Motorcross among others.
