Fathimath Dheema Ali and Mohamed Shaffan Ismail from the National Table Tennis (TT) team have been awarded the best athletes of the year, at this year’s Maldives Sports Awards.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu presented the prestigious awards at the ceremony.

Organized by the Ministry of Sports, Fitness and Recreation, the ceremony was held at the Social Center on Thursday evening.

Dheema was awarded the “Sportswoman of the Year - Gold” award alongside the title of the most promising female athlete.

In addition to this, the Maldivian TT prodigy was crowned the best female TT player.

Shaffan was awarded the “Sportsman of the Year - Gold” as the best male athlete.

He competed for the award against Azneen Rashad and badminton player Nibal Ahmed. Azneen won the “Sportsman of the Year – Silver” and Nibaal won “Sportsman of the Year - Bronze”.

Shaffan also won the title of the best male TT player of the year.

Further, Handball Association was recognized as the best association of the year, beating the TT Association.

The ceremony also saw awards presented to the best athletes from other sports.

These include Fathimath Nabaha Abdul Razzaq who won the “Sportswoman of the Year - Silver” and Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq who won “Sportswoman of the Year - Bronze”.

These accolades were awarded by President Muizzu.

Thursday’s ceremony was attended by First Lady Sajidha Mohamed, Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef, Minister of Sports, Fitness and Recreation Abdullah Rafiu as well as other senior government officials and athletes.

During the ceremony, the Lifetime Achievement Award was also presented to recognize the services of the late Ahmed Hafiz and Abdul Sattar Hassan.

Established in 2022, the Maldives Sports Awards shine the spotlight on the incredible achievements of Maldivian athletes.