Dheema Reclaims Women’s Crown as Shaffaan Defends National Title

Sports

Fathimath Dheema Ali regained the women’s singles title while Muhammad Shaffaan Ismail successfully defended his men’s singles crown at the 64th National Table Tennis Championship finals held yesterday afternoon.

Dheema produced an impressive comeback in the women’s singles final, defeating Rafaa 4–1 to reclaim the title. Rafaa, who won last year’s final, made a strong start by taking the opening set, but Dheema responded with four consecutive victories, winning 11–5, 11–5, 11–8 and 12–10 to secure the championship.

In the men’s singles final, Shaffaan once again defeated Moosa Munsif Ahmed, winning the championship 4–1. Shaffaan took the first three sets 11–9, 11–9 and 11–4, before Munsif fought back to win the fourth 11–5. Shaffaan closed out the contest by winning the fifth set 11–8 to retain his national title.

Munsif and Aal claimed the First Division men’s doubles title after defeating Shaffaan and Mohamed Maizar Adam Zaahir.

Dheema also enjoyed success in the women’s doubles, teaming up with 15-year-old Aishath Alsa Nafiz to defeat Mishkaa Mohamed Ibrahim and Aishath Malaak Thaseen.

Alsa had an outstanding championship, also winning gold in both the U17 and U15 girls’ singles categories.

Dheema completed her championship with another title in the mixed doubles, partnering with Shaffaan. The pair went one better than last year after settling for silver in the same event, where they lost to Rafaa and Munsif.

The U19 boys’ singles final featured two 17-year-olds, Mohamed Aal Imran and Umair Mohamed Muizzu. Aal, who had already won the men’s doubles title with Munsif and taken bronze in the men’s singles, defeated Umair to claim the U19 championship.

Umair bounced back from his U19 final defeat by winning the U17 boys’ singles title, adding another major achievement to his championship campaign.

The 64th National Championship produced strong performances across the senior and junior categories, with established champions defending their titles while a new generation of young players continued to make their mark on Maldivian table tennis.