Nigeria’s Quadri Atunwon produced a remarkable performance to help Nigeria defeat Egypt and retain the boys’ U-19 team title at the 2026 ITTF Africa Youth Championships. The finals were played on Wednesday at the Borteyman Sports Complex in Accra. Nigeria trailed 0-2 after losing the opening two matches, but Sultan Agunbiade revived the team’s hopes with a spirited victory to reduce the deficit to 2-1. Matthew Kuti, who had earlier lost 2-3 to Yassin Gaber, redeemed himself with a 3-1 victory over Abdelmalk Elsayed to level the tie at 2-2 and force a deciding match. The title was then decided by Atunwon and Gaber in a thrilling final contest. The players shared the first four games to leave the match tied at 2-2. Atunwon appeared on course for victory after taking an 8-2 lead in the deciding fifth game, but Gaber fought back to level at 8-8 before moving ahead 10-8 to earn two match points. The Nigerian refused to surrender, levelling the score at 10-10 before winning the thrilling decider 16-14. His victory secured the title for Nigeria and ensured the country retained the boys’ U-19 team crown. Egypt dominated the other team events, winning the boys’ U-15, girls’ U-15 and girls’ U-19 titles. Egypt defeated Nigeria 3-0 in the boys’ U-15 final after the defending champions had survived a difficult semifinal against hosts Ghana with a narrow 3-2 victory. Ahmed Elsabbagh gave Egypt the early advantage with a 3-0 victory over Marvelous Joseph, before Asser Sameh defeated Usman Ayoola by the same score. (NAN) Hussein Eyad completed Egypt’s victory with another straight-sets win over Samson Joshua. Nigeria, however, celebrated a memorable boys’ U-19 triumph, inspired by Atunwon’s match-winning performance.
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