Nigeria qualifies for the World Youth Championships in ITTF
After defeating Egypt 3-1 in the team event final on Saturday, July 23, Nigeria’s U-19 representatives at the 2022 ITTF Africa Youth Championships clinched their spot at the World Youth Championships.
As Taiwo Matti became the hero for Nigeria at the cost of the North African, the victory helped Nigeria stop Egypt’s domination in the team events of the 2022 ITTF Africa Youth Championships.
The continental youth championships are returning after being postponed in Accra, Ghana in 2019 because to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Tunis hosting some of the continent’s top young athletes.
The World Youth Championships will be held at the same venue in Tunisia later this year, and the competition will act as qualifying matches, according to the Africa Table Tennis Federation (ATTF).
Egypt won the U-19 and U-15 girls competitions on the final day of the team competition, and they also exacted revenge on Nigeria for their 3-1 loss to them in the group stage by defeating the Matthew Kuti, Mustapha Mustapha, and Musa Mustapha three in the U-15 boys competition final.
The Egyptian team of Gaber Yassin, Abdelaal Anas, and Elsayed Abdelmalk performed their greatest game against the Nigerian youths in the boys’ U-15 final. Yassin stopped Kuti in the fourth game, and the Egyptian team won 3-1.
The Nigerian squad of Taiwo Mati, Boboye Samuel, and Muiz Adegoke made sure the Egyptians made a clean sweep by defeating them 3-1 on the final day of the team competition with three gold medals already in their collection.
While Boboye failed in his attempt to boost the tally for Nigeria when he lost 2-3 (5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-13) to AZZAM Mohamed, Mati began the campaign on a winning note against Egypt’s GAMAL Marwan with a 3-1 (11-1, 10-12, 11-8, 12-10) victory.
Adegoke defeated ELSHAWA Ziad 3-1 (8-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-8) to retake the lead for Nigeria.
Mati, the hero of the Nigerian squad, gave the West African team a 3-1 victory (5-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9) and prevented Egypt from winning all three medals in the team competition.
In the boys’ U-19 division, Mati is the top seed and has received a bye into the next round of the singles competition, which began on Sunday, July 24. The Nigerian star is anticipated to play Kenya’s Shah Heeray in the second round of the singles competition on Monday, July 25.
Hana Goda, the 14-year-old African women’s champion, will try to conquer the junior level after dominating the senior class a few weeks earlier in Lagos.
Egypt, Nigeria, and Tunisia have already clinched spots in the 2022 World Youth Championships as the competition comes to a finish on July 27.
