Fathimath Dheema Ali, a grade five pupil at Royal Institute International in Colombo, has won the 2016/17 ‘Best sportswoman of the year’ along with ‘Best table tennis player award’, contesting against her peers for the Royal Institute’s Class Awards.
Dheema whilst participating in her first national competition, became the Under 12 category champion only to concede to her opponent during her Under 16 finals.
Champion of Sri Lanka’s Under 10 and Under 12 western province, Kid talent, Dheema ranked in top four in last year’s U-12 category, competing against athletes three years older than her. Although Dheema’s family want her to represent Maldives, Sri Lanka has offered to grant her dual citizenship in order for Dheema to represent the Sri Lankan National team.
The youngest participating athlete, at only 10 years of age, Dheema represented Maldives In the Liebherr 2018 World Team Championships, held in Halmstad, Sweden.