Taiwo Mati

Taiwo Mati is a Professional Nigeria 🇳🇬 Table Tennis Player. Currently #101 in the World

Born. April 15, 2005 in Ondo State, Nigeria) is a Nigerian athlete, table tennis player. Silver medalist of the 2021 African Championship among adults as part of the Nigerian national team. Bronze medalist at the 2021 Youth World Championship in men’s doubles among juniors. Multiple champion and medalist of the African Youth Championship among cadets and juniors. In 2022, he became a finalist for the African Club Championship 2022 with Remo Stars Sports Club (Nigeria).

Biography

Mati Taiwo was born on April 15, 2005 in Ondo State, Nigeria.Quadri Aruna has always been his idol, as well as other young players from Nigeria. His first coach was Olakunle Fadoju.In international competitions, Mati Taiwo made his debut very early, in 2016, when he was only 11 years old. He took part in the 2016 Nigeria Open tournament held in his hometown of Lagos, Nigeria and even managed to win several matches against his compatriots. He made it to the main draw, where he lost to the tournament favorite, Finn Olah Benedek.

In 2017, a student from St. James Catholic Grammar School in Ondo excelled in table tennis at the Nigerian National Youth Games held at Kwara State in the North Central Region. It was a major multi-sport event with over a thousand athletes taking part. Co-organized with the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation, Mati Taiwo won the under-17 singles tournament by defeating Habib Olamilekun in the final, and won gold in the youth doubles tournament partnering Olorunda Akomolafe. The performance allowed Mati Taiwo to qualify for the 2017 Egypt Junior and Cadet Open, where he managed to win the cadet and mini-cadet singles competition. Also this year, he took part in the ITTF African Junior and Cadet Championships-2017 for the first time, but lost all his matches. Before the tournament in Egypt, he again played at the 2017 Nigeria Open tournament and again managed to break into the main draw of the senior tournament, where he lost to compatriot Jimoh Taiye Hassan.

In 2018, the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation was overtaken by financial problems, funding, including travel, was practically stopped, which is why it was not possible to play in international competitions this year.In April 2019, at the ITTF Junior Circuit, Ghana Junior and Cadet Open-2019 tournament, he became the winner in singles and doubles among cadets and a finalist in the same categories among juniors. At the African Youth Championships, Mati Taiwo won three gold medals at once – in singles and team categories among cadets and in the team category among youth (under 21), he also became a bronze medalist in the men’s doubles among juniors. At the ITTF Junior Circuit, Morocco Junior and Cadet Open-2019, he again became the winner in the men’s singles and doubles among cadets and the bronze medalist in the same categories among juniors. Mati Taiwo took part in the ITTF Africa Cup-2019 for the first time and took 10th place in it. At the traditional Nigeria Open-2019 tournament, he managed to reach the quarterfinals in the men’s doubles. In October 2019, he took part in the unofficial World Cadet Championship – 2019 World Cadet Challenge in Władysławowo, Poland and reached the quarterfinals in the men’s singles and 6th place in the African team. At the end of the year, he played for the first time at the 2019 Youth World Cup in Korat, but stopped at the group stage.

In 2020, Mati Taiwo was included in the Nigerian national team at the 2020 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in the Portuguese city of Gondomar, but did not take part in the matches. At the ITTF Challenge Plus Portugal Open-2020 tournament, he stopped at the 1/32 finals.In 2021, Mati Taiwo became the silver medalist of the WTT Youth Contender Lignano-2021 in singles in the under-17 category. At the 2021 World Youth Championships, he won the bronze medal in the men’s doubles among juniors paired with Fernandez Carlos (Peru). At the 2021 African Championship, he won the silver medal in the Nigerian national team, and he played until the semi-finals (and won all the matches), but from the semi-finals he was replaced by his idol Quadri Aruna. In the men’s and mixed doubles, he stopped a step before the medals, reached the quarterfinals.In 2022, he became a finalist for the African Club Championship 2022 with Remo Stars Sports Club (Nigeria). At the 2022 African Youth Championships in Radès, Tunisia managed to become the champion in the junior team event as part of the Nigerian national team. Thus, the Nigerian national team received a guaranteed ticket to the Youth World Championship 2022 in the junior category in the men’s team event. Then he won the men’s singles and junior doubles, thus obtaining 3 gold medals out of 3 possible. At the 2022 African Championships in Algeria among adults, he won two bronze medals in singles and men’s doubles.

Career

Career records from December 2016. Singles African Championships: Bronze (2022)ITTF Africa Cup: 10 (2019)World Junior Championships: 1/16 (2021)African Junior & Cadet Championships (juniors): Winner (2022)African Junior & Cadet Championships (cadets): Winner (2019) Doubles African Championships: Bronze (2022)World Junior Championships: Bronze (2021)African Junior & Cadet Championships (juniors): Winner (2022), bronze (2019) Mixed Doubles African Championships: Quarterfinals (2021) Team Championships African Championships: Finalist (2021)African Junior & Cadet Championships (youth): Winner (2019)African Junior & Cadet Championships (juniors): Winner (2022)African Junior & Cadet Championships (cadets): Winner (2019)African Club Championship: Finalist (2022)