Although table tennis star, Dheema Ali had met defeat in the first match of the Olympics, Maldivians remain prideful, agreeing that this is a good start to bridging the gap and rising up the ranks.
Yesterday had commemorated a special day for Maldives' sport, with the country competing in the most prestigious global sports tournament, the Olympics after qualifying for the first time.
Although table tennis star, Dheema Ali had met defeat in this first match at the hands of the experienced Poland athlete, Katarzyna Wegrzyn, Maldivians remain prideful. All agree that despite Dheema being forced to end the Games in the preliminary round, this is a good start to bridging the gap and rising up the ranks. They attribute this loss to Dheema's age and experience, noting that advancing this far is a substantial success.
Wegrzyn, 23, won the match against Dheema with four games. Although Dheema, 16, had demonstrated a fair challenge in the first two sets, Wegrzyn had won with a score of 5-11, 5-11. In the third set, Dheema only managed to score 2 points while Wegrzyn had scored 11 points. However, she rallied in the fourth set, presenting a competitive challenge to Wegrzyn, collecting 8 points. Wegrzyn had also won this set at 8-11 points.
The first words of encouragement send to Dheema following this match was from President Dr Mohamed Muizzu. In a tweet on social platform X, he said that 'the entire country is proud of the courage and refined play' showed by Dheema.
Former renowned cricket player, Mohamed Mahloof (Afu), who also served as the President of the Cricket Board and presently fills the role of Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, had commended Dheema's valiant performance in a post on X.
"Dheema has a successful future ahead."
Maldivian runner, Naseer Ismail who has previously competed in the Olympics, also declared that despite the games not progressing further, Dheema will continue to move forward.
Wife of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Fazna Ahmed also wrote on Facebook - with a video of the former President watching the match- of her pride in Dheema for being a beacon of hope for girls and believing that anything is possible.
Economic expert, Ibrahim Athif Shakoor also posted on social media that he had watched the match with immense pride and assured that Dheema will see further success.
"Move forward without giving up hope. Future is bright, Insha Allah," read a comment on the post.
In addition to being the first Maldivian athlete to qualify for the Olympics, Dheema is also the first athlete to represent Maldives in the table tennis sport at the Olympics. She had won the qualifiers held in Nepal in May after competing against Sri Lankan champion Bimandi Bandara with a score of 3-1.
Dheema had previously represented Maldives in the World TT Championships as well. She also triumphed gold medals in the Junior tournament of the South Asian Cadet Championships and also secured notable achievements in the Asian tournament. Moreover, she had also triumphed four gold medals for her country in the Indian Ocean Island Games. In light of Dheema's achievements at such a young age, all concur that her future is bright and lined with success.
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