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Ugandan Ekiring maintains badminton top rank in Africa

Xinhua, June 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

Uganda's Edwin Ekiring has increased his chances to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games after maintaining top position in Africa as per the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings.

Ekiring who lost in the first round of the Yonex Mauritius International Championship last week and will play in the U.S. Open this week moved 10 places to 148th in the world ranking.

"This is good for Ekiring because it will increase his chances to be at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil," the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Badminton Association, Simon Mugabi, told Xinhua on Monday.

Mugabi said that it is only the top ranked African players who get automatic qualification to the Olympics.

"It is good that Ekiring keeps getting more points and keeps the top position in Africa to be able to make it for the Olympics," added Mugabi.

The Ugandan star who has participated in one Olympic Games before increased his points to 11,980, while South Africa's Jacob Maliekal moved to 155 in the world ranking and maintained second spot in Africa with 11,634 points.

Maliekal, the reigning All Africa Games gold medalist also won the 2015 Uganda Open International Open title.

In the lastest rankings released by BWF, South Africa's Prakash Vigayanath is 194th and third in Africa, while Egypt's Abdelrahman Kashkal is ranked 4th in Africa and 227th in the world. Endit