Africa’s Search for a First Olympic Table Tennis Medal Continues

Africa’s quest for its first Olympic table tennis medal remains unfulfilled following the elimination of all the continent’s representatives at the ongoing Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

At both the Youth Olympic Games and the senior Olympic Games, Africa’s best performances in table tennis have been quarter-final appearances. Nigeria’s Ojo Onaolapo reached the last eight at the Youth Olympic Games, while Egypt’s Omar Assar and Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna achieved the same feat at the senior Olympic Games. Assar remains the first and only African player to reach the Olympic quarter-finals on two consecutive occasions.

Sixteen years after Onaolapo became the first African table tennis player to reach the quarter-finals of the singles event at the Youth Olympic Games, none of the 15 African representatives at Dakar 2026 were able to match or surpass the Nigerian’s historic achievement at Singapore 2010.

Onaolapo topped his group to advance to the knockout stages before producing an impressive run to the quarter-finals, where he faced Japan’s Koki Niwa. Despite a spirited performance, the Nigerian lost 4-2 to bow out of the competition. His achievement at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games remains one of the most significant milestones in African table tennis history.

The Nigerian later established himself as a key member of his country’s national team and played an instrumental role in Nigeria’s historic bronze-medal finish at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Since Onaolapo’s breakthrough in Singapore, no African player has reached the quarter-finals of the singles event at the Youth Olympic Games. The trend continued in Dakar, where 13 of the continent’s 15 representatives failed to progress beyond the preliminary stage. Only Algeria’s Tania Morice and Egypt’s Abdelmalk Elsayed advanced to the knockout rounds.

However, both players saw their campaigns come to an end in the Round of 16 on Tuesday, 3 November.

Elsayed’s impressive run was halted by Japan’s Ryuusei Kawakami, who secured a commanding 4-0 victory (11-4, 11-7, 11-6, 11-3) in just 22 minutes.

Morice also exited the competition after a hard-fought encounter against Hong Kong’s Tsz Tung Su in the women’s singles event. Although the Algerian claimed the third game, she was unable to contain the pace and precision of her opponent, eventually suffering a 4-1 defeat (11-2, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 11-4) in 28 minutes.

With the exits of Morice and Elsayed, Africa’s pursuit of a first table tennis medal at the Youth Olympic Games continues.

Attention now turns to the concluding stages of the competition as the table tennis event reaches its climax on 5 November at the Dakar Expo Centre in Diamniadio.