Nigeria, Egypt and Madagascar opened their 2026 ITTF World Team Championships campaigns with hard-fought victories at Copper Box Arena in London.

Egypt started strongly but had to dig deep to beat Thailand 3-1.

Madagascar’s Fabio Rakotoarimanana proved decisive in a thrilling 3-2 win over Mongolia, while Nigeria edged Saudi Arabia 3-2 early Wednesday.

Nigeria’s victory hinged on talisman Quadri Aruna, who inspired the comeback after youngster Matthew Kuti lost both his matches.

Aruna and Olajide Omotayo stepped up to secure the opening group win, placing Nigeria in a strong position to reach the knockout stage.

Nigeria next face top seeds Hong Kong on Thursday, before concluding group matches against South Africa on Friday.

The top two teams in each group will progress to the knockout rounds.

Madagascar’s Group 3 clash with Mongolia was a rollercoaster encounter, swinging dramatically between both sides.

Rakotoarimanana and Antoine Razafinarivo gave Madagascar a 2-0 lead, but Mongolia rallied to level through Ankhbayar Bilguun and Temuulen Myandal.

 “With everything at stake, Fabio held his nerve,” officials said, as he beat Manlaijargal Munkh-Ochir in three tense deuce games.

In Group 6, Greece overcame a scare against Algeria to secure a 3-1 victory.

Ioannis Sgouropoulos opened with a 3-0 win over Stephane Ouaiche, before Mehdi Bouloussa levelled after edging Panagiotis Gionis 3-2.

Milhane Jellouli threatened an upset, but Georgios Stamatouros responded strongly to win 3-1 and restore Greece’s advantage.

Gionis redeemed himself in the fourth match, defeating Ouaiche in straight games to seal victory for Greece.

Meanwhile, Egypt remain the only African side to win in the women’s competition’s opening round.

Nigeria, Algeria and Rwanda all suffered defeats, leaving Egypt to carry Africa’s hopes in the early stages.

France has urged its citizens to leave Mali “as soon as possible”, after a weekend of co-ordinated attacks by separatist fighters and Islamist militants.

In an update on Wednesday, the advice also warned French citizens not to travel to the West African nation, describing the situation as “extremely volatile”.

Explosions and sustained gunfire were reported across the country, including the capital, Bamako on Saturday.

Mali’s military leader Gen Assimi Goïta said the security situation in the country was under control.

Speaking in public for the first time on Tuesday evening, he said the army had dealt a “violent blow” to the attackers, and signalled operations were still ongoing.

The spokesperson for one of the rebel groups, the ethnic Tuareg separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), on Wednesday vowed “the regime will fall, sooner or later”.

Speaking during a visit to Paris, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said the rebels intended to take control of several other northern towns – Gao, Timbuktu and Menaka – following their success in Kidal.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has extended the sale of application forms for the 2026 Direct Entry (DE) admission exercise to May 8.

The board announced the extension in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Benjamin said the decision was aimed at ensuring that no eligible candidate was denied access to tertiary education.

He said the extension replaces the earlier deadline for the exercise.

He also disclosed that five additional registration centres had been approved to ease pressure in high-demand locations.

The approved centres are the Centre for Open and Distance Learning (CODL), Mini Campus, University of Ilorin, Kwara; Bells University of Technology, and Olabisi Onabanjo University Centre 1, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun.

Others are the Prof. Usman E-Learning Centre, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo State; and Human Development Initiatives (Grace House), No. 2 Iwaya, Sabo, opposite Onike Girls Junior High School, Onike, Lagos.

Benjamin urged prospective candidates to take advantage of the extension, noting that JAMB offices nationwide, including Professional Registration Centres (PRCs) and Professional Testing Centres (PTCs), remained open for registration.