Nigeria’s last representative in table tennis at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Fatima Bello, bowed out on Monday after a 4-0 loss (11-1, 11-3, 11-3, and 11-5) against France’s Jia Nan Yuan in their women’s singles round of 64 match.
Bello’s exit follows defeats of three other Nigerian table tennis players, Aruna Quadri, Olajide Omotayo, and Offiong Edem, who were all eliminated in the initial rounds.
Making her debut, Bello struggled to keep up with the pace and accuracy of her opponent, resulting in her elimination from the tournament.
It is worth noting that Edem was knocked out after a 4-0 loss to Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi in the women’s singles Round of 64.
Omotayo endured a 4-1 defeat against Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan, while African champion Aruna faced a narrow 4-3 loss to 19-year-old Romanian Eduard Ionescu.
This event marks the first instance since the inclusion of table tennis in the 1988 Olympics that no Nigerian player secured a victory in the competition.