Dheema guarantees a medal at WTT youth contender tournament

Maldivian table tennis sensation Fathimath Dheema Ali has secured a medal at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender tournament currently being held in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, which runs from last Sunday until today. Dheema is competing in the Under 19 age category.

Dheema advanced to the semi-finals by defeating Anastasia Chakhartishvili of Georgia with a 3-1 set victory. She won the first set 11-6, but lost the second set 8-11. Dheema then firmly secured the win by taking the next two sets, 11-7 and 11-9, guaranteeing her a medal, a historic first for her in a WTT Contender tournament.

Her journey to the quarter-finals included a straight-set victory over another Georgian player, Tekla Liparteliani, in the second round. The set scores were 11-3, 11-6, and 11-3.

Dheema won both of her matches in the initial group stage, finishing first in Group 3.

In the first match, she defeated Batool Al-Abd of the host nation, Saudi Arabia, in straight sets: 11-3, 11-4, and 11-2. Her second match was a 3-1 set victory against Malika Abbasi of Iran. Although Abbasi won the first set 11-7, Dheema rallied to win the next three sets 11-4, 11-7, and 11-3.

In the semi-final, Dheema is scheduled to compete against Li Chak Ton of Australia, a player of Chinese origin.