As the year 2017 draws to a close, we look back at the most notable sports events that took place in Uganda.
Starting with January, the Uganda Cranes took part in the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 39 years. Cranes played three games losing 1-0 to Ghana in the opening match, 1-0 to Egypt and drawing 1-1 with Mali in the final group stage match.
Miya Farouk scored the only goal for Uganda in the tournament. Cameroon won the tournament, defeating Egypt in the final in the tournament that was hosted by Gabon.
The Uganda Netball team emerged winners of the 2017 Africa Netball Championship, going unbeaten throughout the tournament in June.
Five wins out of five, the She Cranes got 10 points and sealed a memorable tournament on the final day of the six-nation event at Lugogo MTN Arena in Kampala by winning all the games at hand, scoring 335 goals and conceding 198.
On July 29, Micho Sredojevic resigned as the Cranes coach. The Serbian tactician called it quits citing non-payment from his employers Fufa for months. He addressed a press conference on the Saturday morning at Kabira Country Club in Bukoto, a suburb in Kampala, the emotional 47-year old announced with regret his decision to leave.
In October, the Uganda Rugby Cranes Sevens team defended the Africa crown to qualify for the Rugby Sevens World Cup to take place in San Francisco, California.
The nations that took part in the sevens tournament were Uganda, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Zambia, Morocco, Tunisia, Botswana and Ghana.
Uganda qualified for the 2018 CHAN tournament for the fourth straight time after playing at the 2011 (Sudan), 2014 (South Africa) and 2016 (Rwanda) events. The Cranes are in the Group B alongside Ivory Coast, Namibia and Zambia. The tournament will be played in Morocco starting Jan 12 to Feb 4, 2018.
On August 4, Ugandan athlete Joshua Cheptegei produced his best race ever to win Silver in the 10000m at the 2017 IAAF London World Championships.
Following a disappointing performance at the World Cross-Country Championships back in March in Kampala, Cheptegei crossed the finish line only micro-seconds behind the track-career-ending Sir Mo Farah of Great Britain in a crowd-lifting conclusion.
Cheptegei’s triumph meant Uganda’s first track medal at the IAAF World Championships since Kipsiro’s podium finish at Osaka 2007.
On November 21, the Uganda Chess national team coach Joachim Okoth died of a heart problem at the age of 67. He played professional chess for 14 years from 1982 to 1996 and was a member of the national Chess Olympic team attending various Olympiads starting from 1982 in Luzern, Switzerland.
Okoth also represented Uganda as a player in various chess Olympiads featuring five times in 1984, 86, 88, 90, and 92 which was his best year as he scored seven points in Manila, Philippines.
On December 28, FUFA announce French national Sébastien Desabre, 41, as the new head coach of the Uganda national football team replacing Micho.
