Wale Jagun
Nigeria’s table tennis prodigy and Ikorodu born star, Matthew Kuti, on Saturday, set new record as the first West African player to successfully defend the men’s singles title at the 2025 ITTF Africa West Regional Championships.
The defending champion, Kuti reaffirmed his dominance by overcoming Abdulbasit Abdulfatai 4-1 (7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7) in the final of a tournament which has been highly competitive for years with no one ever – defending the title successfully.
Seven countries took part in the tournament which took place at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, and also saw Ajoke Ojomu won her first regional championships in the women’s singles, which gave Nigeria a pleasant outing.
Kuti had in the quarterfinal defeated Dosso Ben Moussa (Côte d’Ivoire) 4–1, and outplayed his compatriot, Wasiu Kolasi 4–2 in the semi – final.
Nigeria dominated the team events, defeating Ghana, Benin Republic, Guinea, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, and despite stiff competition from Côte d’Ivoire in the men’s singles, Nigerian players swept all the medals in the singles categories.
Ojomu who lost the championship to Hope Udoaka in 2024, bounced back this year to defeat Sukurat Aiyelabegan in straight sets (11-7, 11-8, 11-5, 14-12), despite battling a leg injury during the match.
