Nigeria’s Matthew Kuti and Favour Ojo have earned places at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, joining 13 other African table tennis players set to compete when the Olympic movement stages its first event on African soil.
Key takeaways
- Kuti and Ojo are part of a 15-player African contingent for the Youth Olympic table tennis competition.
- The tournament will run from 31 October to 5 November 2026 in Dakar, Senegal.
- Sixty-four players from 41 National Olympic Committees will contest three medal events.
- The field comprises 32 boys and 32 girls, all born between 2009 and 2014.
- Mixed doubles teams will be formed exclusively from athletes entered in the singles draws.
Dakar awaits Africa’s young contenders
Kuti and Ojo have been selected among 64 competitors worldwide for the table tennis event, which forms part of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The table tennis programme is scheduled for 31 October to 5 November, while the wider Games will take place in the Senegalese capital from 31 October through 13 November 2026.
A total of 41 National Olympic Committees from five continents will be represented in Dakar. The 32 male and 32 female competitors will compete for medals in men’s singles, women’s singles and mixed doubles.
In the boys’ singles field, Nigeria’s Kuti will line up alongside Aylan Goudjil of Algeria, Ganiou Abdourahaman of Benin Republic, Egypt’s Abdelmalk Elsayed, Senegalese player Amador Ferrer, Youssef Aidli of Tunisia and Uganda’s Joseph Sebatindira.
Ojo spearheads the African girls’ representatives, with Tania Morice of Algeria, Egypt’s Yara Elbadawy, Ghanaian Joanita Borteye, Tina Andriantahina of Madagascar, Senegal’s Marieme Diallo, Tunisia’s Ela Saidi and Uganda’s Jemimah Nakawala also securing selection.
Global field set for demanding schedule
Every mixed doubles partnership will be made up of players who are already involved in the singles events, creating a particularly demanding programme for those competing across both disciplines.
Established table tennis forces China, Japan, Korea Republic, Germany and France are included in the line-up, while Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Luxembourg and Puerto Rico are among the emerging nations represented.
All of the selected athletes were born from 2009 to 2014, underlining the event’s focus on presenting the sport’s next wave of elite international talent.
