Romanian table tennis player Robert Istrate on Monday advanced to the main draw of the men's singles table tennis event at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senega, after defeating Ugandan Joseph Sebatindira 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 14-12, 12-10) in the last match of the preliminary group.
Istrate won after 30 minutes and finished second in Group 8, with 5 points, behind Poland's Patryk Zyworonek, 6 points, but ahead of Venezuela's Jonathan Vegas, 4 points, and Sebatindira's, 3 points.
In the round of 16, Istrate will face Ki Ho Li of Hong Kong.
In the women's singles, Andreea Baiasu lost the last match of Group 5, 2-3 (3-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-4, 5-11) against Austrian Nina Skerbinz, missing out on the main draw.
Baiasu, with one win and two losses, took third place, with 4 points, behind Skerbinz, 6 points, and the Taiwanese, Min-hsin Chen, 5 points, but ahead of Karolayn Maldonado (Ecuador), 3 points. The best two ranked progressed to the main draw.
The fourth summer edition of the Youth Olympic Games - Dakar 2026 takes place for the first time on the African continent, in Senegal, between October 31 and November 13. Romania has line up 16 athletes, in 10 disciplines: athletics, artistic gymnastics, wrestling, swimming, fencing, table tennis, archery, triathlon, boxing and rowing.
