Nigeria's table tennis teams started their World Championships campaign this week. The tournament is 100 years old. It started in London. It's back in London.

The 2026 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships are being played at the Copper Box Arena in the Olympic Park and at Wembley Arena through to May 10. Sixty-four men's teams. Sixty-four women's teams. The biggest edition in the tournament's history.

Nigeria's men face Hong Kong, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia in the group stage. The women face Australia, Uzbekistan, and Wales.

Quadri Aruna leads the men's team. He's been doing this for a long time. Africa's most decorated table tennis player. Former world top-10. Still competing at 34, still the one the continent looks to.

It's not a story about winning the tournament. China will win the tournament. They always win the tournament. The last time a different men's team won was Sweden in 2000. But it is a story about showing up. In London. At the centenary edition. With a nine-player delegation. In a sport that doesn't get much attention back home.

The Copper Box Arena was built for the 2012 Olympics. Nigerian fans in London can walk over to Stratford and watch their team play. That's not nothing.