Africa’s Table Tennis Revolution: A World Champion Within 5 Years, Declares Oshodi

In a bold declaration signalling a shifting tide in global table tennis, Wahid Oshodi, President of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), has proclaimed that the continent is no longer content with merely participating on the world stage. Within the next half-decade, Oshodi insists, Africa will crown its first world champion.

“Nothing is impossible in table tennis,” Oshodi stated in an exclusive interview with Flashscore.com, his confidence buoyed by a string of recent breakthroughs.

He points to the seismic upset by Brazil’s Hugo Calderano, who captured the ITTF World Cup in 2025 – a feat that once seemed unthinkable for a non-Asian player. “Who would have imagined a Brazilian winning the ITTF World Cup? Africa is getting closer.”

Oshodi, who was unanimously elected ATTF president at the 2024 Annual General Meeting in Addis Ababa, has now spent nearly two years at the helm. A former Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development in Lagos State, he succeeded Khaled El-Salhy and currently serves as an Executive Vice-President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

His tenure has been defined by a relentless push to scale up the continent’s table tennis infrastructure despite persistent financial and logistical challenges.

The evidence of progress, Oshodi argues, is already visible at the highest echelons of the sport. He cites veterans like Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna, Egypt’s Omar Assar, and Dina Meshref as trailblazers who have proven that African athletes can “compete favourably with the best in the world.” Yet the most electric proof came recently in Macao, at the ITTF World Cup, where Egyptian teenager Hana Goda carved her name into history.

“Hana Goda became the first African female and only the second African overall to reach the quarter-finals, narrowly losing at that stage to the world No. 1,” Oshodi recalled, emphasising that such near-misses are not failures but foundations. “With more non-Asian players now in the world’s top 10, I firmly believe in the possibility of an African – male or female – world champion in the next five years.”

To turn belief into reality, the ATTF is overhauling its talent development approach. Oshodi noted that Africa’s single greatest asset is its immense young population.

The federation is prioritising youth academies and actively securing funding to nurture a new wave of prodigies, including Hana Goda, Nigeria’s Matthew Kuti, Tunisia’s Wassim Essid, and Uganda’s Joseph Sebatindira.

Equally critical is the fight for resources. Oshodi acknowledged that efforts are ongoing to secure sponsorship and government backing to improve access to high-quality equipment, training facilities, and accessories for table tennis associations across all 54 African nations.

“We will continue to motivate our players with the hope that they too can reach the very top,” he said.

For a continent long viewed as an underdog in racket sports, Oshodi’s message is unambiguous: the gap has narrowed, the trajectory is upward, and the countdown to Africa’s first world champion has already begun.