Kuti, Ojo crash out of table tennis event

Nigeria’s Matthew Kuti and Favour Ojo have been eliminated from the table tennis event at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal after losing their respective final preliminary-round matches.

Kuti, Nigeria’s deputy captain, needed a victory over Italy’s Francesco Travesan on Monday to secure a place in the men’s singles knockout stage but suffered a 3-0 defeat to end his campaign.

The loss came after the African Youth Cup champion revived his qualification hopes with a 3-1 victory over Tunisia’s Youssef Aidli on Sunday, having earlier fallen 3-0 to Hong Kong’s Li Ki Ho.

Kuti finished his Group C campaign without securing enough victories to advance, joining several other African players eliminated at the preliminary stage.

Ojo also bowed out after suffering her third defeat in the women’s singles group stage. The Nigerian lost to her Hong Kong opponent on Monday, ending her hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds.

Only the top two players in each group qualified for the next stage.

The early exits mean Nigeria will no longer have representatives in the table tennis medal race at the Games, despite the country’s hopes of making an impact through the two players.

Of the 15 African players who began the competition, only Algeria’s Tania Morice and Egypt’s Abdelmalk Elsayed remain in contention.

The pair will now carry the continent’s hopes of securing a podium finish, with both seeking to match or surpass Nigeria’s Ojo Onaolapo’s quarter-final achievement at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Africa’s campaign has otherwise suffered significant setbacks across the men’s and women’s singles events.

In the men’s competition, 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 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 out of contention, Nigeria’s attention will now shift to its remaining athletes competing in other sports at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.