Africa’s quest for a first table tennis medal at the Youth Olympic Games suffered another setback after all 15 representatives at Dakar 2026 were eliminated from the competition, with the continent once again failing to match Nigeria’s Ojo Onaolapo’s historic quarter-final feat at Singapore 2010.
Sixteen years after Onaolapo became the first African player to reach the quarter-finals of the singles event at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, none of the continent’s representatives in Dakar could progress to the last eight.
The latest exits came on Tuesday when the continent’s two remaining players, Algeria’s Tania Morice and Egypt’s Abdelmalk Elsayed, bowed out in the Round of 16.
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 after losing 4-1 to Hong Kong’s Tsz Tung Su in the women’s singles. Although the Algerian managed
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