Nigeria’s deputy captain and teammate exit after defeats in final preliminary-round matches as only two African players remain in contention
Team Nigeria‘s Matthew Kuti and Favour Ojo have been eliminated from the table tennis competition at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games after losing their respective final preliminary-round matches in Senegal.
Kuti, Nigeria‘s deputy captain, needed a victory in his final group fixture to strengthen his chances of reaching the men’s singles knockout stage but suffered a 3-0 defeat to Italy’s Francesco Trevisan.
Ojo also saw her campaign come to an end after losing to her Hong Kong opponent, recording her third defeat in a group of four players. Only the top two players in each group progressed to the knockout stage.
Their exits mean Nigeria will no longer have representation in the table tennis singles events, while the number of African players remaining in the competition has been reduced to two.
Only two African players remainOf the 15 African players who began the table tennis competition, only Algeria‘s Tania Morice and Egypt‘s Abdelmalk Elsayed remain in contention for a podium finish.
Both players will be hoping to reach the latter stages and match or surpass the quarter-final achievement of Nigeria’s Ojo Onaolapo at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
In the men’s singles, Algeria’s Aylan Goudjil, Benin Republic’s Ganiou Abdourahaman, Senegal’s Amador Ferrer, Tunisia‘s Youssef Aidli and Uganda‘s Joseph Sebatindira were among those eliminated in the preliminary round.
The women’s singles event also witnessed several African exits, with Egypt’s Yara Elbadawy, Ghana‘s Joanita Borteye, Madagascar‘s Tina Andriantahina, Senegal’s Marieme Diallo, Tunisia’s Ela Saidi and Uganda’s Jemimah Nakawala failing to progress.
With Kuti and Ojo now out, attention shifts to Morice and Elsayed as the remaining African representatives continue their pursuit of a place on the podium at Dakar 2026.