President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has congratulated the Maldives table tennis teams who secured gold and silver medals at the 11th edition of the Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG), ongoing in Madagascar.

On Sunday, the Maldives women’s TT team defended their gold medal in the tournament after beating Mauritius in the final with a 3 – 1 score.

Taking to Twitter on Monday, President Solih noted that it was another proud moment in the sporting history of Maldives and offered congratulations to the TT teams for securing the gold medal in the Women’s Team Event and the silver medal in the Men’s Team Event.

At the 10th IOIG, President Solih travelled to Mauritius to support the Maldives when it won gold.

Table tennis is the first game of this year’s IOIG that Maldives has bagged gold in.

At the 10th edition of the IOIG held in Mauritius back in 2019, the women’s table tennis team made history after winning Maldives’ first gold medal in a team event at a multi-sport international event.

The national men’s TT team who made it to the final, also showed an exemplary performance. Despite losing the first match of the tournament, the national team played with renewed resolution and won the next two matches against Comoros and Mauritius to make it to the final. The men’s national team lost the final 3 – 2.

This marks the first time in history that the men’s national TT team has brought home silver medals at an international sporting event.

At this year’s IOIG, a total of 172 Maldivian athletes are competing in nine sporting events and a youth camp. Some of the sports include badminton, swimming, table tennis, tennis, taekwondo, basketball, handball and athletics.

Teams from Reunion, Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar and Mayotte are competing alongside Maldives in this year’s games.

The 11th edition of IOIG will run until September 3.

Maldives bagged 15 medals at the 10th edition of IOIG, held back in 2019; five in table tennis and beach volleyball, three in athletics and two in badminton. Maldives departed for this year’s games, with a steady aim to break the last IOIG’s record and achieve more. As such, local teams are more prepared for this year’s games, according to officials.