The contest for Africa’s eight available team slots at the 2026 ITTF World Team Championships intensifies today, October 17, as the continent’s best converge at the Rades Multidisciplinary Complex for the ongoing 2025 ITTF Africa Championships.

A total of 16 men’s teams and 14 women’s teams began their campaigns in the group stage, with Egypt and Nigeria leading the pack as top seeds. At stake is qualification for the global showpiece scheduled to hold in London, the historic birthplace of table tennis.

Adding to the prestige, the 2026 World Team Championships will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) — a milestone that has made this year’s African qualifiers even more competitive.

Defending champions Egypt remain the team to beat in both the men’s and women’s categories, boasting a star-studded lineup led by newly crowned continental singles champions Omar Assar and Hana Goda.

Nigeria, however, faces a major test without Africa’s top-ranked male player Quadri Aruna, whose absence has already been felt in the singles events, where no Nigerian reached the quarterfinals. The team salvaged pride with a bronze medal in the Men’s Doubles, but the focus now shifts to securing one of the coveted World Team slots.

Despite the challenges, Taiwo Mati, one of Nigeria’s key players, remains upbeat.

“We really missed our captain, but that notwithstanding, we’re ready to face any team in the competition,” he said. “We all want to go to London in 2026, and we’re hopeful of clinching one of the tickets.”

Host nation Tunisia is banking on the experience of Wassim Essid and the promise of rising star Youssef Aidli to make a strong showing on home soil. Meanwhile, Algeria, led by Mehdi Bouloussa and veteran Sami Kherouf, has expressed confidence in its chances to challenge Egypt’s dominance.

With the competition entering its decisive phase, tension and anticipation are mounting in Tunis — as Africa’s top table tennis nations battle not just for medals, but for a place on the world stage in London 2026.

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Four years after making a modest debut at the 2021 ITTF Africa Championships, Cameroon’s Ylane Batix is fast emerging as one of the brightest young stars on the continent’s table tennis scene.

When the then-15-year-old stepped out in Yaoundé, many fans doubted his unorthodox style could thrive against Africa’s top-ranked players. But Batix has since silenced the skeptics, steadily climbing the continental rankings and earning respect from peers and pundits alike.

His breakthrough came in 2025 at the ITTF Africa Cup, where he stormed into the semifinals — his best career performance — and in the process booked a historic berth at the ITTF World Cup in China, marking his first major international appearance.

Now 19, Batix carried that momentum into the 2025 ITTF Africa Championships in Tunis, where he again reached the semifinals, cementing his place among Africa’s elite. His impressive run included victories over Nigeria’s former African Games champion Olajide Omotayo and Egypt’s ex-African Youth champion Mahmoud Helmy before falling to the defending champion Omar Assar in the last four.

Reflecting on his progress, Batix said he remains grounded but ambitious.

“My dream is to become African champion, and I think I’m getting closer,” he told reporters. “It hasn’t been easy with players like Quadri Aruna, Omar Assar, and Youssef Abdelaziz still dominating. But I give myself two years — I believe I’ll be at the top.”

Having narrowly missed qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Batix is now setting his sights on Los Angeles 2028.

“Qualifying for the Olympics has always been my dream. I know it will take more hard work, and I’m ready to double my efforts,” he said. “I feel I’m maturing in the game, and the many competitions I’ve played have helped build my confidence and mental strength.”

With his growing experience on the World Table Tennis (WTT) Series circuit and his steady rise at continental events, the Cameroonian prodigy looks poised to become one of Africa’s next big names — a player inching ever closer to ruling the continent’s table tennis scene.

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Two of Africa’s most decorated table tennis icons, Nigeria’s Segun Toriola and Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh, have reunited on the sidelines of the 2025 ITTF Africa Championships in Tunis — not as rivals, but as mentors shaping the continent’s future stars.

Between them, the pair boast five African Championships singles titles — Saleh with three (2000, 2007, 2010) and Toriola with two (1998, 2002). Both also finished runners-up twice — Toriola in 1992 and 1994, and Saleh in 2015 and 2018. Today, they have traded rackets for clipboards, leading their respective national teams as head coaches.

Toriola, a four-time African Games gold medallist and one of Nigeria’s most accomplished athletes, fondly recalled his debut at the continental championships more than three decades ago.

“I remember it clearly — it was after the 1991 African Games in Cairo that I made my debut at the African Championships in 1992,” he said. “Back then, every country had top-quality players, and the competition was fierce.”

Now coaching from the bench, Toriola admits the transition from player to coach brings its own emotional test.

“It’s not easy being a coach, especially when you’re watching your player face someone you know you could beat, even at my age,” he joked. “Sometimes I feel like jumping back into action, but age won’t allow that.”

For Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh, the coaching role represents a lifelong dream fulfilled. A three-time African champion and one of the continent’s most consistent performers, Saleh now leads Egypt’s senior team and also helps nurture young talents in the junior ranks.

“When I was a player, I always dreamed of becoming a coach — to pass on my experience and knowledge,” he said. “Now, being with the senior national team allows me to live that dream and help shape the future of Egyptian table tennis.”

Saleh made his African Championships debut in 1994 in the doubles event, but his major breakthrough came in 2000 when he captured his first singles crown. Reflecting on the evolution of the sport, he observed:

“Back in our day, rivalries were intense, and we played cautiously, waiting for the right moment to attack. Today’s players are aggressive from the first ball. The tactics have changed, and I’m still adapting to this new style.”

Coaching alongside his longtime rival and friend, Saleh described the experience in Tunis as deeply meaningful.

“It’s special to be here with Toriola. For the young players, it’s a unique opportunity to learn from two people who’ve lived the game at the highest level,” he said.

As both legends now guide their nations from the sidelines, their enduring partnership in Tunis symbolizes the passing of the torch — from two of Africa’s greatest players to the next generation of champions.

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