Stakeholders in Nigerian table tennis have again identified the challenges limiting the performance of the country’s players at global tournaments and highlighted ways to bridge the gap between Nigeria and the world’s top nations, The PUNCH reports.
This comes on the heels of Nigeria’s below-par outing at the 2026 International Table Tennis Federation World Championship in London, where both the men’s and women’s teams failed to progress beyond the preliminary and group stages, respectively.
While the men’s team, led by Quadri Aruna, managed wins against Saudi Arabia and South Africa in the group stage, they were eliminated by eternal rivals Egypt in the preliminary round.
The women’s team lost all their group matches against Wales, Australia and Uzbekistan, raising concerns about their ability to compete consistently at the highest level.
President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, Adetayo Soji, praised the Nigerian contingent for their resilience but noted that the sport in the country is heavily affected by economic factors.
