Chinese Embassy to support Ugandan woodball development

KAMPALA - The Chinese Embassy has pledged to continue supporting the development of woodball in Uganda.

Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Uganda told members of the Uganda Woodball Federation (UWBF) on Tuesday that they are happy about the quick development the sport is making in Uganda and on the international stage.

During his visit to the federation headquarters in Mengo, Ambassador Zheng made it clear that the Embassy will continue to support woodball in Uganda and will also consider investing in new playing equipment.

"I am excited to see that the Uganda Woodball Federation has a machine that manufactures equipment that is also distributed in Africa. The embassy will consider the issue of getting a new machine for the federation because they are worth being supported as a body," Ambassador Zheng said.

The Chinese Embassy in Uganda last year partly sponsored the Uganda International Woodball Championship that also attracted several foreign players from Asia.

The game of woodball was invented in China, but has slowly spread to African countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Zambia, Burundi, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Uganda Woodball Federation President Paul Mark Kayongo, thanked the Ambassador for honoring the invite and added that they are eager to contribute towards the One Belt and One Road Initiative using the sport of woodball.

"With some of the help coming from the Chinese Embassy, we now have over 4,000 people playing woodball in Uganda where the game started only 10 years ago," he added.

David Katende, the assistant General Secretary (technical) at the National Council of Sports (NCS), the body that runs sport in the country, thanked the Woodball Federation for being very organized and being the only sports body manufacturing their playing equipment.

He also thanked the Chinese government for their support of Uganda through many aspects including sports.

Besides Uganda being the top ranked country in Africa in the game of woodball, their female player Lillian Zawedde is ranked third in the world and number one in Africa.