Joseph Sebatindira, a nine-year-old table tennis prodigy from Uganda qualified for the 13th African Games after finishing third in the National Championship.
KAMPALA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's table tennis wonderkid Joseph Sebatindira has qualified for the 13th African Games.
Sebatindira, a nine-year-old student of Nakasero Primary School in Kampala, finished third in the National Championship, the final qualifiers for the African Games on Sunday.
President of the Uganda Table Tennis Association (UTTA), Robert Jjagwe, told Xinhua on Monday that it is the first time to have a nine-year-old player in the country qualified to be part of the senior team for the African Games.
"This kid has proved a point that he can compete against the senior players and, because of his hard work, has qualified as part of the team. His elder brother Sharif Nsereko, who is 11 years old, also qualified to be part of the team," added Jjagwe.
The 13th African Games is expected to be held in Ghana between March 8 to 23, in the three cities of Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast.
In November last year, Sebatindira was recognized by the Africa Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) after he clinched the World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender U-11 championship in Egypt.
Mary Musoke, Uganda's former top women's player and three-time Olympian who is now coaching Sebatindira, said that the youngsters' qualification is a clear sign of hard work and determination.
"We are very happy for him as he continues to work hard," Musoke noted. ■
