African Games medalists Matthew Kuti and Hope Udoaka of Nigeria outperformed seasoned players to become the new West African champions at the 2024 ITTF West Africa Regional Championships, which concluded this weekend in Lome, Togo.

Over 32 men and 29 women from Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and host Togo competed in four events (teams and singles for men and women) during the three-day tournament, which was organized to select teams to represent the region at this year's African Championships in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Despite not playing to his full potential in the team event, which allowed Togo to dethrone Nigeria as regional champions, Kuti was faultless in the singles tournament, defeating some established players, including former regional champion Oba Oba Kizito of Ivory Coast in the final.

Starting his campaign in a group where he only lost one game to Benin Republic's Kossi Akakpo, Kuti breezed into the knockout round to correct his mistake in the team event.

He overcame Togo's national champion, Kokou Fanny, 3-0 in the round of 16 to go to the quarterfinals, where he defeated his compatriot, Matthew Fabunmi, 4-2 to set up a semi-final against the player who defeated him in the team event, Mawussi Agbetoglo of Togo.

He avenged his earlier defeat by defeating Togolese 4-2 to get to the final, where he played former champion Oba Oba Kizito.

Kuti, like the real champion that he is, mesmerized Kizito with a 4-1 thrashing to become the new regional champion and ensuring that Nigeria retained the championship, which Taiwo Mati won in 2023.

Udoaka dominated the women's singles, defeating compatriot Ajoke Ojomu 4-0 to win the title.

In the team event, the Nigerian ladies, led by national champion Hope Udoaka, dominated without dropping a game, defeating Ghana 3-0 in the final to maintain their championship.

However, the host team gave the spectators something to rejoice about with a 3-2 victory over Nigeria, establishing themselves as the regional superpower in the men's team competition.