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Kasozi, Kisakye crowned in throne of thorns
Marion Kisakye is the pool Queen. PHOTOS/GEORE KATONGOLE
What you need to know:
Kasozi stormed past the first round beating Angel Barinda 7-3 but found himself trailing Gulu’s Moses Omara 6-2 in the second round.
Joseph Kasozi was crowned the King of Pool on a day when the Pool Association faced the biggest player revolt in its history.
Kasozi, who was destined for an early elimination in the round of 32 lived to his ‘Sharp Shooter’ and ‘comeback king’ monikers to steal the show with his quick play that brought down the crowd favourite and Uganda’s number one Caesar Chandiga.
Kasozi stormed past the first round beating Angel Barinda 7-3 but found himself trailing Gulu’s Moses Omara 6-2 in the second round.
Ritah Nimusiima was eliminated in the semis.
With 23 minutes, the country’s seed three pulled out something from his magic bag to stage the biggest comeback of the tournament.
He went on to beat Gideon Mawa and Hazaali Lukomwa 7-2 and 7-3 in the quarters and semis to set up a date with pre-tournament favourite Chandiga.
Chaos erupts
Before the finals, Pau’s mettle was tested to their limits. Pool’s chairman Bob Trubish was invited for a ceremonial speech that stretched for over 25 minutes. But while the crowd was getting vexed with the long incoherent speech, the players were taking important notes.
Fans enjoyed some good pool.
Trubish boldly revealed that the association had received Shs47m from the National Council of Sports to facilitate the event. Immediately a number of players started gathering out for a quick tête-à-tête. They stormed back and disrupted the remaining part of the pleasantries demanding accountability, better pay and playing conditions.
The situation that eventually broke into a full-blown chaos lasted for two hours with a direct exchange from the players and Trubish relaying live on the loudspeakers before Pau backed down and allowed for peace talks.
The closed door negotiations yielded fruits with the association taking responsibility over the poor state of tables but above all unzipped their wallets and promised to refund the players’ transport facilitation - Shs100,000 for each of the 64 men and 32 ladies that took part in the tournament. The players agreed to return to the tables at 7.51 pm.
Pre-event favourite Chandiga didn't deliver.
Seizing the moment
Meanwhile Kasozi, who was largely absent in the chaos, held his nerves for his moment of glory. Kasozi was trailing 4-2 before calling a timeout.
If there’s something the 42-year old remembered, then it was the 4-2 lead that Chandiga capitalized on to beat him in the final of the Players Invitational tournament in 2021.
That served him perfectly as he returned with four straight frames to lead 6-4 before Chandiga unleashed the venom from his scorpion to claw back to level 6-up with five minutes left. Chandiga failed to sink crucial balls after breaking allowing Kasozi to clear his yellows and win the decider.
There was no joy for the sisters this time round.
In the ladies category, home girl Marion Kisakye commonly known as Sheila Ankah finally cracked the codes to beat royal sisters Rasheeda Muteesi and Rukia Naiga to win her second title this year.
Kisakye, who had the home crowd championing her throughout, beat Muteesi 6-4 in the semis with the last frame won on time. She took seed one Naiga to an exhaustive 20-penalty shootout to win 9-8 following a 5-5 stalemate that was constrained by time.
Pool Association of Uganda (PAU) officials overcame a mini-crisis.
King & Queen Pool Championship
Men
Winner: Joseph Kasozi (Shs3m)
Silver: Ceasar Chandiga (Shs1.5m)
Bronze: Hazaali Lukomwa (Shs750,000)
Ladies
Winner: Marion Kisakye (Shs2m)
Silver: Lukia Naiga (Shs1m)
Bronze: Rasheeda Muteesi (Shs500,000)
Results
Final: Kasozi 7-6 Chandiga
Final: Naiga 8(5)-(5)9 Kisakye
