Nigeria’s Mathew Kuti revived his singles campaign at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games with a 3–1 victory over Tunisia’s Youssef Aidli on Sunday, setting up a decisive final group encounter against Italy’s Francesco Trevisan.
Kuti won 11–8, 11–8, 9–11, 11–7 to register his first victory in the men’s singles preliminary stage after losing his opening match to Hong Kong’s Ki Ho Li.
The result leaves the Nigerian with one win and one defeat ahead of Monday’s meeting with Trevisan, who holds the same record following Sunday’s opening round of fixtures.
Kuti made a strong start against Aidli, taking the first two games by identical 11–8 scores to establish control of the contest.
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The Tunisian responded by winning the third game 11–9, reducing the deficit and forcing Kuti to work for the victory. The Nigerian then took the fourth 11–7 to complete his recovery from an earlier setback.
His opening encounter had proved much tougher. Li defeated him in straight games, winning 11–4, 11–4, 11–3.
Li also overcame Trevisan in straight games, while the Italian defeated Aidli 3–0. Those results leave Kuti and Trevisan preparing for their final group meeting with matching records and knockout qualification at stake.
Kuti’s victory was among six singles wins recorded by African players on Sunday, according to the International Table Tennis Federation’s daily report.
There was disappointment for Nigeria in the women’s singles, however, as Favour Ojo suffered defeats in both her opening group matches.
Ojo lost 3–1 to Czechia’s Hanka Kodet before falling by the same margin to Egypt’s Yara Elbadawy.
Against Elbadawy, the Nigerian took the opening game 11–9 but could not maintain that advantage. The Egyptian won the next three games 11–9, 11–6, 11–9 to complete the comeback.
The results followed Nigeria’s earlier exit from the mixed doubles, where Kuti and Ojo lost 3–1 to Thailand’s Thitaphat Preechayan and Kulapassr Vijitviriyagul.
Kuti now turns his attention to Trevisan, with his victory over Aidli ensuring that he remains in contention heading into the final round of preliminary matches.
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