Nigeria’s boys’ U-19 team stages comeback at table tennis championship

Nigeria’s boys’ U-19 table tennis team staged a dramatic comeback to deny Egypt a clean sweep of all four team titles at the 2026 ITTF Africa Youth Championships in Accra, Ghana.

Trailing 0-2 in the final, Nigeria fought back as Sultan Agunbiade won to cut the deficit to 2-1, before Matthew Kuti, who’d earlier lost his own match, levelled the tie 2-2 with a 3-1 win. That set up a decisive showdown between Quadri Atunwon and Egypt’s Yassin Gaber, who built an 8-2 lead in the deciding game before Atunwon staged a remarkable fightback, saving two match points to eventually win 16-14 and retain Nigeria’s title.

Despite that victory, Egypt dominated the rest of the championships, sweeping the boys’ U-15, girls’ U-15, and girls’ U-19 titles. In the boys’ U-15 final, Egypt’s Ahmed Elsabbagh, Asser Sameh, and Hussein Eyad completed a 3-0 whitewash of Nigeria, who had earlier survived a tense 3-2 semi-final against hosts Ghana.

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