Chinese Embassy dashes hopes of Nigerian table tennis star Fatimo Bello

Nigerian table tennis star Fatimo Bello have been ruled out of ITTF World Cup in Macao, China, due to visa issues.

A member of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) revealed that the Chinese Embassy in Lagos denied her visa application, despite her initial selection as one of Africa’s representatives.

Bello, based in Italy, had qualified for the tournament by finishing among the top four in the Women’s event at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup in Tunis, giving her the dream of making her debut in the World Cup.

However, that dream has been dashed for now as the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) quickly replaced her with Hong Kong’s Chengzhu Zhu.

Bello will have to wait until next year, potentially 2026, to participate in the World Cup.

With the development, Nigeria’s team is now left with only Aruna Quadri for the competition, which starts on April 14, 2025, and ends on April 20, 2025.