Rugby Championship Quarterfinal Results | Return Leg

• KOBs 51-16 Mongers | Agg: 68-29
• Heathens 28-16 Walukuba Barbarians | Agg: 53-16
• Buffaloes 12-05 Jinja Hippos | Agg: 33-45
• Black Pirates 30-27 Rhinos | Agg: 40-34

Rugby Championship Semifinal Fixtures

• Heathens vs KOBs
• Jinja Hippos vs Black Pirates

The top four sides in the country Heathens, KOBs, Black Pirates and Jinja Hippos are through to the National Rugby Championship Playoff semifinals.

While KOBs eased to a 51-16 win over Mongers at Legends and defending champions Heathens held off a competitive Walukuba Barbarians 28-16, it was not an easy sail for Pirates at King’s Park and Hippos couldn’t thrive in the mud of Kyadondo.

The Pirates needed a strong second-half performance to overcome the pedestrian opening half that saw them trail 21-00 to Rhinos. Ivan Kirabo’s boot and tries from Godwin Abwang and Arnold Ocen had Rhinos in charge in what looked like would be an upset.

However, Muhammad Haruna took charge in the second-half comeback from Pirates scoring a pair of tries and setting Paul Bagota with Jaden Isaac also scoring to draw the game level at 24.

From that point, it was the Pirates with the momentum and they went on to pick a slim win from the jaws of defeat.

At Kyadondo, the home side registered a 12-5 win after the morning downpour made it impossible to play the ball. Hippos had done all the work in the first leg in Jinja where they won by a huge margin.

The semifinals will be played over the next two weekends in a two-legged affair before a one-off final.

Ugandan middle-distance runner Halima Nakaayi will compete in the 800m at the Eugene meeting of the Wanda Diamond League on Saturday, 25th May.

The former World Champion will take the Heyward Field track at the Prefontaine Classic alongside some big names in women’s middle-distance running.

Athing Mu of the USA, Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, Natoya Goule-Toppin of Jamaica, World number one Mary Moraa of Kenya and African champion Tsige Duguma from Ethiopia will all line up in what will be a very competitive race.

Nakaayi has run in two major events this year. She won silver at the African Games in March clocking a time of 1:58.59 but was a second slower at the Kip Keino Classic last month where she posted 1:59.89.

Moraa and Duguma have both run under 1:58 this season while Mu ran a national record 1:54.97 on the same track last year and that could make the race fast-paced.

The meet will help Nakaayi continue to prepare for the Paris Olympic games as she looks to put behind her a fair share of bad luck experienced in the last couple of World Championships and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Race time will be 12:34am, EAT (Sunday, 26th May).

Peruth Chemutai will take the track of the Heyward Field at the University of Oregon to compete in her second meet of the 2024 Wanda Diamond League season.

The 2020 Olympic champion will take on some of the best and rising steeplechasers in the world including African and World Champion Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya on Saturday, 25th May at the Eugene meeting.

Chemutai clocked 9:05.54 the last time she ran on this track in 2022 and will be looking to better her performance as she continues to prepare for the Paris Olympics.

The 24-year-old Ugandan competed in the Xiamen meeting last month. She clocked her season best 9:12.99 finishing in 3rd place behind Chepkoech and Faith Cheroitich who will also line up in Eugene.

A silver medalist at the African Games, Chemutai will be running in her fourth major event this year.

USA’s Courtney Frerichs who ran a personal best of 8:57.77 on the same track back in 2021 as well as Winfred Mutile Yavi of Bahrain who also registered a personal 8:50.66 at the same venue last year are the other top athletes on the entry list.

The biggest long-distance stars from Uganda, Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo, will be in action in the 5000m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday, 30th May.

Cheptegei will be looking to emulate the form that saw him break the world record with 12:35.36 at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco in 2020 and a year later win Olympic gold in Tokyo.

Cheptegei will be joined in Oslo by compatriot Jacob Kiplimo who will only be looking for his second Diamond League victory having won the 3000m race in Rome four years ago.

Current world number one Yomif Kejelcha and 2021 Wanda Diamond League champion Berihu Aregawi, both Ethiopian, are also among the starters in what promises to be a race for the ages at the sixth leg of the 2024 season.

Hagos Gebrhiwet and Telahun Haile Bekele are the other Ethiopians confirmed for the race.

Henrik Ingebrigtsen, a local favourite, is also on the entry list as well as Guatemala’s Luis Grijalva and Switzerland’s Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu.

Uganda’s biggest motorsport event, Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally, has been launched.

The Pearl of Africa Rally, which is the third round of the 2024 National Rally Championship, will run from May 10-12 in the Eastern district of Jinja.

The event that first ran in 1997 will also serve as the first round of the 2024 Africa Rally Championship which will add spice to the competition with foreign crews racing for ARC points.

Rally defending champion Karan Patel of Kenya and his compatriot Hamza Anwar are the two foreign drivers confirmed for the event that has registered over thirty entries.

Current national championship leader Jonas Kansiime and former national champions Jas Mangat, Ronald Sebuguzi, and Ponsiano Lwakataka have been registered, drawing more of the rally’s rich history and competitive spirit.

The Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally will start with a free practice and qualifying stage in Wairaka on Day One (10th May). Day Two will feature seven stages and then the rally will climax with three stages on Day Three.

The rally will cover a total competitive distance of 209.45 kilometres.

NBL Fixtures | Friday, May 3 | MTN Arena – Lugogo

• KCCA Leopards Vs JKL Lady Dolphins – 7:00 pm
• Dmark Power Vs City Oilers – 9:00 pm

City Oilers have switched their focus back on the National Basketball League (NBL) as they get their second round of the campaign underway tonight against struggling Dmark Power.

After a disappointing second season in the Basketball Africa League where they registered just one victory, the team has refocused on the NBL which is the pathway back to the continent.

Tonny Drilleba, Fayed Baale, Titus Lual, Ivan Muhwezi, and Allawi Seenkubuge who barely played in Cairo will be eager to make an impact to build on the dominant 73-38 victory in the first-round meeting.

Power concluded the first round with four wins and seven losses and they have not fared any better in the second round so far, losing all three games. Kevin Ongunjim, Clinton Omondi, and Taariq Powell who were added during the midseason transfer window are yet to click.

Geoffrey Soro is reported to have returned to the club and it remains to be seen whether he will feature for the five-time champions

In the women’s division, champions JKL Lady Dolphins will battle with KCCA Leopards a side looked at as the top challengers for the throne.

The highly anticipated match brings together the top two teams in the division, promising a thrilling showdown following an exciting first-round meeting that the Lady Dolphins edged 83-81.

Ronald Rugumayo’s hunt for a Sunshine Tour Card that started last September at the VOG Western Cape Tournament played at the Devonvale Golf and Wine Estate in Cape Town, has come to fruition.

Rugumayo who is based in South Africa became the first Ugandan to secure the Sunshine Tour Card during the last round of the Qualifying School tournament played at the Heron Banks Golf & River Resort in Johannesburg.

“Achieving a Sunshine Tour card in just my second season is a dream come true. It wouldn’t have been possible without the encouragement, guidance, and belief of so many people,” Rugumayo said in Instagram post.

Earlier this year, Rugumayo also became the first Uganda to make the cut in a European Tour event during the DP Tour Magical Kenya Open.

“To my family, manager, friends, coaches, Caddy and fans – your unwavering support and encouragement mean the world to me. Your words of wisdom and unrelenting belief in my abilities have fuelled my passion and desire to succeed.

“I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by each of you. This achievement is not just mine, but ours, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

Impressive rounds of 67, 73, 68 and 71 earned Rugumayo full membership of the Sunshine Tour and will now on play in big-money tournaments starting with the Zimbabwe Open scheduled for May 9-12.

Marvin Kibirige and Deus Willy Kitata are the other Ugandans who were also in South Africa trying to secure the card through other qualifying events.

JT Jaguars complete a double over DMark Power in the National Basketball League following a 79-68 win on Sunday at the MTN Arena in Lugogo.

Power who had fallen to Nam Blazers in a close encounter on Friday night controlled the opening quarter of the Sunday afternoon game winning it 24-21.

However, the five-time champions went cold in the second quarter managing to score just six points as Jaguars went for 19 points and the game turned on its head.

Power who trailed by 11 points going into the fourth quarter fell behind by as many as 17 points with under five minutes to the end of the fourth quarter and at that point, the game was nothing but done.

Kevin Moru finished with a team-high 17 points to lead the Jaguars, Abraham Dut added 14 points off the bench, George Agasi had a 13-point and 11-rebound double-double while Ian Lubwama netted 10 points and handed out 6 assists. Fadhil Chuma pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go with 9 points.

Meanwhile, vet Isaac Afidra scored a game-high 21 points in a losing effort and Samad Imran, the other Power player to score in double digits, had 11 points.

City Oilers’ quest for Basketball Africa League Playoffs ended following their second defeat to Bangui Sporting Club on Friday.

The Ugandan champions who shocked Al Ahly 82-81 on Wednesday came into the match up with Bangui looking for victory but a 91-76 loss ended all their hopes of reaching the playoffs.

Oilers dropped to 1-4 following the defeat and will be hoping for not only Al Ahly to beat Al Ahly Benghazi but also the have to beat the Libyans by at least a 12-point margin to stand a chance of advancing.

Oilers trailed 19-12 after the opening ten minutes and by halftime, the deficit was 12 points.

The Ugandans however took the fight to the Central Africans in the third quarter which they won 27-18 to restore hope going into the last quarter of the game.

The fourth quarter started well as the Oilers tied the game at 68 two minutes into the period but the wheels started falling off as the deficit reached double figures later on and there was no way back for the Oilers.

Patrick Rembert had his best offensive game for Oilers with a team-high 21 points to go with 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Randy Culpepper Sr and Dane Miller Jr contributed 16 points each while Khamam Maluach had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Oilers will play their last game against Al Ahly Benghazi on Saturday.

Uganda National Basketball Team star player Arthur Kaluma has declared for the 2024 NBA Draft.

Kaluma’s declaration comes after having a stellar season with Kansas State University Wildcats in the NCAA.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank God for the opportunities that he has given me playing this game. I am truly blessed.

“I would also like to thank Coach Tang and the whole Kansas State staff for giving me the chance to play in the best conference in college basketball.

“The connections I have built at K-State will last a lifetime. Thank you to all my teammates and fans for their support.

“Without further ado, I would like to announce that I am declaring for the 2024 NBA draft,” Kaluma said in a statement.

The power forward averaged 14 points a game during the season. He was named the BIG 12 Conference Player of the Week in December 2023 and also twice received the Newcomer of the Week honours early this year.

It should be noted that Kaluma played the first two years of his college career at Creighton where he played at the National Tournament both years before transferring to Kansas State last year.

He had declared for the 2023 NBA draft before withdrawing to continue with college.