Nigeria denied Egypt a clean sweep of the team events at the 2026 ITTF Africa Youth Championships after a heroic comeback inspired by Quadri Atunwon secured gold in the boys’ U-19 category on Wednesday in Accra, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The defending champions looked destined to surrender their title after falling 2-0 behind against Egypt in the final, but rallied brilliantly to claim a dramatic 3-2 victory and prevent the North Africans from winning all four team titles.
Egypt seized the early advantage through victories in the opening two matches, leaving Nigeria with a mountain to climb.
Sultan Agunbiade sparked the comeback by defeating his Egyptian opponent to reduce the deficit to 2-1 before Matthew Kuti, who had earlier lost a closely contested 3-2 match to Yassin Gaber, bounced back with a 3-1 victory over Abdelmalk Elsayed to level the tie.
That left Atunwon and Gaber to decide the championship in a thrilling winner-takes-all encounter.
The Nigerian raced into an 8-2 lead in the deciding fifth game but watched Gaber produce a remarkable fightback to draw level at 8-8 before earning two championship points at 10-8.
However, Atunwon showed remarkable composure under pressure, saving both match points before edging a gripping finish 16-14 to seal victory and retain Nigeria’s boys’ U-19 crown.
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Despite that setback, Egypt still dominated the team competitions, claiming the remaining three titles on offer.
Nigeria’s boys’ U-15 team, who entered the tournament as defending champions, survived a tough 3-2 semi-final against hosts Ghana but were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Egypt in the final.
Ahmed Elsabbagh opened the scoring with a straight-sets victory over Marvelous Joseph before Egyptian star Asser Sameh defeated Usman Ayoola, while Hussein Eyad completed the sweep with another 3-0 win against Samson Joshua.
Egypt also reclaimed the girls’ U-15 title with a 3-1 victory over Tunisia, having lost the crown to Uganda in 2025.
The North Africans completed their dominance in the girls’ U-19 event by defeating Algeria 3-0 to successfully defend their title.
While Egypt finished the team events with three of the four available trophies, Nigeria left Accra with the boys’ U-19 title thanks to Atunwon’s memorable comeback, which prevented a complete Egyptian sweep of the championships.
