Debutant Taiwo Reaches World Table Tennis Round of 32

Debutant Mati Taiwo of Nigeria advanced to the Round of 32 of the ITTF World Table Tennis Championship after beating Hong Kong’s Lam Siu Hang 4-3 in Durban, South Africa.

Nigeria’s rising star Mati, is the only Nigerian left at the World Table Tennis Championship after Aruna Quadri was knocked out.

Mati stood on the brink of elimination when he trailed 2-3 to Lam Siu Hang, before turning the match around with two consecutive wins that brought him to the round of 32.

Sound on🔊😂

A Nigerian fan after Mati Taiwo’s win be like: pic.twitter.com/L4uiW6S1bs

— ITTF-Africa (@ITTFAfrica) May 23, 2023

It was a huge win for Taiwo, who will now face Korean Jang Woojin in the Round of 32.

The Bronze medalist of the 2021 ITTF World Youth Championships will be joining the Egyptian duo Dina Meshref and Omar Assar as the only Africans left in the championship.

• Read more: Quadri Aruna knocked out of World Table Tennis Championship

Hana Goda

Egyptian table tennis star Hana Goda faced a challenging match against Lin Yu-Jhun and unfortunately stumbled with a 1-4 loss, despite displaying a commendable effort throughout the game.

The 2023 World Championship Finals started on Saturday, May 20th, and will end on May 28, the first time Africa will host the event after 84 years.