NAIROBI, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Uganda is the new Africa Region Four golf challenge winner after their team upstaged Rwanda in the finals played in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa.
Kenya placed third after beating Tanzania in the third and fourth place playoff as the curtain came down on the week-long tournament on Sunday at the Nyali Golf and Country Club.
Tanzania finished fourth ahead of Ethiopia, Burundi, the Seychelles and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Ugandan pair of Joseph Chinyaai and David Kamulindwa beat Rwanda's Emmanuel Nkurunziza and Celistin Nsanzuwera 3-1. Uganda's second pair of Ronald Rugumayo and Adolf Muhumuza won 4-3 and 3-2 against Alloys Nsabimana and Emmanuel Rutayisire of Rwanda.
Kenya's coach Ali Kimani was full of praise for his team's performance saying they did their best and it was the "unpredictable change of game" that cost them the trophy.
"There are no guarantees in golf even if you are playing at home. We came here expecting to win but unfortunately, we lost out to our opponents, Rwanda in the semifinals. The boys played well and it was just unfortunate that we lost out during the crucial stage of the tournament," Kimani said.
Uganda Golf Union President Innocent Kihika underlined the importance of the win for his team. "The last time we won the Region IV tournament (then known as the East Africa Challenge) was in 2016 in Ethiopia. We came here to win and we accomplished our objective," said Kihika. Despite losing the main trophy, Kenya's Daniel Nduva posted the best score (136 strokes) for the two rounds. Uganda's Adolf Muhumuza's finished second with 138 strokes.
Starting off with an overall score of 429 strokes against Uganda's 443 and Rwanda's 472, Kenya lost its footing in the fourth round match play against Rwanda.
