Solidarity games: Maldivian women's TT team advances to quarterfinals after defeating Saudi Arabia

The Maldivian Women's Table Tennis team secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the Islamic Solidarity Games, currently underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after defeating the Saudi team today.

They were placed in Group D alongside Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Previously, the team, which secured a bronze medal at the 2022 Islamic Solidarity Games in Turkey, faced a setback in their opening match against Turkey, losing by a score of 8-0. However, they rebounded strongly in their next match, defeating Saudi Arabia with an 8-3 score line.

The match began with a Doubles game where the Maldivian national champions Aishath Rafa Nazim and Fathimath Dheema Ali triumphed against the Saudi duo of Shahah Al-Dhafiri and Amira Al-Dhafiri, winning in straight sets with scores of 11-7, 11-7, and 11-2. The second match saw Nihal Al-Qahtani of Saudi Arabia defeat Aishath Alsana Nafiz of the Maldives in straight sets 11-4, 11-8, 11-8, which briefly leveled the series.

Subsequently, Dheema Ali faced Shahah in the third game, dominating the match and reclaiming the lead for the Maldives with scores of 11-2, 11-3, and 11-4. Rafa then sealed the victory for the Maldives by winning her singles match against Nihal in straight sets 11-8 and 11-7. The team is now set to face Azerbaijan in the quarterfinals later today.

In contrast, the Maldivian Men's Team faced defeats in both of their matches, first losing to Iran with a score of 8-0 and then to Qatar with an 8-4 score line.