By Vivian Ahanmisi
Nigeriaโs trio โ Olajide Omotayo, Matthew Kuti, and Muiz Adegoke โ were eliminated in the first round after losing their respective matches at the ITTF World Championships in Doha.
Kuti, on Sunday, lost 0-4 (1-11, 11-13, 5-11, 5-11) to Polandโs Samuel Kulczycki, while Omotayo was beaten 1-4 (10-12, 7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 5-11) by Brazilโs Leonardo Iizuka.
Adegoke started well against Belgiumโs Adrien Rassenfosse, winning the second set after losing the first, but eventually lost 1-4 due to inexperience and unforced errors.
Egyptโs Omar Assar advanced to the Menโs Singles second round after a dominant 4-1 victory over Croatiaโs Frane Kojic.
Assar, a 2023 quarter-finalist in Durban, controlled the match early with aggressive play that unsettled his Croatian opponent.
He took the first set 11-7, dropped the second 9-11, but then won the next three (11-9, 11-5, 11-4) to seal the win.
Assar joins Nigeriaโs Quadri Aruna in the second round of the Menโs Singles event.
In another gripping match, Egyptโs Youssef Abdelaziz came close to an upset against Chinaโs Lin Gaoyuan but lost 2-4 (6-11, 11-2, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6).
Algeriaโs Mehdi Bouloussa struggled against Japanโs Kenji Matsudaira, losing 0-4 (8-11, 7-11, 3-11, 10-12).
Africaโs remaining hopefuls will continue their Menโs Singles campaigns, with Assar facing Portugalโs Marcos Freitas and Aruna meeting Norwayโs Borgar Haug.
In the Womenโs Singles, Madagascarโs Hanitra Raharimanana will face Germanyโs Sabine Winter in her next match.
Egyptโs Hana Goda is set to play Brazilโs Giulia Takahashi in the second round of the tournament.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Egyptโs Yousra Helmy will face Turkeyโs Sibel Altinkaya in the second round. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Kamal Tayo Oropo










