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Table Tennis · History

History of Table Tennis in Nigeria

From a Victorian parlour game to the world top 10.

Nigerian mixed doubles players at the table

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History of table tennis in Nigeria

The origin of table tennis is not exact; Research had it that the table tennis game origin was in the kitchen, during a play with potatoes used as balls and frying pan used as bats which is being played across the table between mum and dad.

Some people believed that it started in the USA while some other school of thought said it started in England in the 1880’s. In 1890, the game became popular but became a sport in 1922 after the law guiding the game was formulated.

After the standardization of the game, the first world championship was held in London, England, in December 1926, after that, the game spread rapidly to both Asia and Africa.

It was believed that Table Tennis came into existence in Nigeria in the early 1930s by some British seamen who sheltered their ships in the Lagos Lagoon, which is the south west of Nigeria, and was later affiliated to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) which was established in the year 1926.

Today the game of table tennis is so popular that it is played everywhere and in various institutions in Nigeria as competitive sports.

Young Nigerian players with their bats at a training camp

Verified timeline · checked 30 September 2026

Table tennis in Nigeria: a timeline

  1. 1880sTable tennis develops as an after-dinner parlour game in England.
  2. 1926The International Table Tennis Federation is founded; the first World Championships are held in London in December.
  3. 1930sBritish seamen in Lagos Lagoon are said to have introduced the game to Nigeria.
  4. 1951The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation is formed by Jack W. Farnsworth.
  5. 1973Lagos hosts the 2nd All-Africa Games; Nigeria begins a run as Africa’s top table tennis nation that lasts until 2007.
  6. 1982Atanda Musa wins the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships singles and doubles in India.
  7. 1988Nigeria’s first Olympic table tennis players compete in Seoul.
  8. 2002Segun Toriola wins men’s singles gold at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, the first year table tennis is on the programme.
  9. 2006Toriola and Monday Merotohun win men’s doubles gold in Melbourne.
  10. 2014Quadri Aruna wins the ITTF Male Star and Star Point awards.
  11. 2016Aruna beats Timo Boll and reaches the Rio Olympic quarter-finals, a first for an African man.
  12. 2018Nigeria wins Commonwealth men’s team and singles silver on the Gold Coast.
  13. 2019Olajide Omotayo wins African Games singles gold in Rabat.
  14. 2020Funke Oshonaike plays her seventh Olympics in Tokyo, the first African woman to do so.
  15. Jun 2022Aruna reaches world No. 10, the first African in the top 10.
  16. 2024Isau Ogunkunle wins Paralympic bronze in Paris.
  17. Oct 2025Dr. Adesoji Tayo is elected NTTF president.

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Quick answers

Table tennis history: quick answers

How did table tennis come to Nigeria?

It is believed that British seamen whose ships sheltered in Lagos Lagoon brought the game to Nigeria in the early 1930s. The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation was formed in 1951.

When was the first World Table Tennis Championships?

In London, in December 1926, the same year the International Table Tennis Federation was founded.