Table tennis prodigies Joseph Sebatindira and Jemimah Nakawala are among Uganda’s big names heading to the Dakar 2026 Summer Youth Olympics this weekend, but coach Alvin Katumba said the duo’s quest for medals in the Senegalese capital faces an uphill task, given the level of competition.
‘Honestly, winning medals will be a tall order, because this tournament will be contested by the best youth players in the world,’ Katumba told Daily Monitor before departing for the event. Katumba has trained Sebatindira and Nakawala since childhood at Nakasero Table Tennis Club, and at most international tournaments and camps, they have been two across the globe.
In mid-October, he guided Sebatindira to a successful defence of the ITTF World Hopes title in Sheffield, which is contested by under-12 players, adding this to multiple Under-11 and Under-13 titles. In July, he was in Accra, where another Nakasero prodigy, Patience Anyango, won Under-15 singles gold at the 2026 ITTF-Africa Youth Championships. Nakawala has also won continental titles and was the pivot of the Ugandan trio that qualified for the 2026 ITTF World Championships last year. But Katumba believes the Youth Olympics is a different ball game.
‘We are going to face the best players from Colombia, Japan, China, among others. We have seen some of those players at tournaments; we have played some of them in training camps, and we know exactly what they are capable of,’ Katumba said, referring to players like Japanese duo Kawakami Ryuusei and Matsushima Miku, the boys’ and girls’ U17 World No. 1 respectively, who will compete in singles and mixed doubles.
Chinese duo Li Hechen and Yao Ruixuan, the boys’ and girls’ Under-17 World No. 8, could cross Nakawala’s or Sebatindira’s paths in their quest for gold, among others.
‘Of course, we are aiming at that top level, but one step at a time. We’ll do our best. But realistically, if we make the quarterfinals, it will not be an underachievement.’
Action starts today in Dakar but Nakawala could not travel with her coach Katumba until Thursday after writing her final Ordinary Level exams at Kibuli SS. ‘How I wish she had enough time to train for this tournament.’