Egypt won three of the four team titles at the 2026 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Youth Championships, reaffirming their dominance in African youth table tennis. The finals were played on Wednesday at the Borteyman Sports Complex in Accra, Ghana, with Egypt defeating Nigeria, Tunisia, and Algeria to win the U-15 boys’ and U-15 girls’ titles, while retaining the U-19 girls’ crown.
In the U-15 boys’ final, Egypt proved too strong for defending champions Nigeria, producing a commanding 3-0 victory. Ahmed Elsabbagh opened the scoring with a 3-0 win over Marvelous Joseph, 11-8, 11-5, 13-11. Egypt’s talisman Asser Sameh then defeated Usman Ayoola 3-0, before Hussein Eyad completed the rout with a clinical 3-0 win over Samson Joshua. Nigeria had reached the final after edging hosts Ghana 3-2 in the semi-finals, but had no answer for Egypt on the day.
In the U-19 girls’ final, Egypt defeated Algeria to secure the continental title and retain the crown they won at the previous championships. Algeria, who had beaten Nigeria in their semi-final, gave a strong account of themselves but could not halt the Egyptians’ momentum.
The championships, held over ten days in Accra, brought together 163 players, 94 boys and 69 girls, from 23 nations, with the event also serving as a qualifier for the World Youth Championships in Turkey later this year. Team events finalists secured qualification to Turkey, raising the stakes for every match from the quarter-finals onward.
Nigeria silenced the home crowd with a commanding 3-0 quarterfinal victory over host Ghana in the U-19 boys’ event, including a memorable 3-2 comeback by Nigeria’s Quadri Atunwon from 2-0 down against Ghana’s Israel Aklie. The U-19 boys’ title, the one that eluded Egypt in Accra, was the competition’s most fiercely contested division, with Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria all advancing to the semi-finals.
ITTF Africa President Wahid Oshodi has previously described the current generation of African youth table tennis players as the most gifted the continent has produced. Egypt’s three-title haul in Accra makes that claim difficult to dispute, at least on the continental stage.
With three team titles secured, Egypt’s campaign in Accra further underlined the depth and enduring supremacy of the Egyptian programme in African youth table tennis. Their players will now carry that form into the World Youth Championships in Turkey, where the continent’s brightest young talent will face the test of a global field.
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