South Asian Games: women's table tennis team wins bronze
Dheema vs Erandi: 11-4, 12-10, 12-14 and 13-11
Maldives women\'s table tennis team
The Maldives women's table tennis team has won bronze at the South Asian Games 2019.
The team lost the semi-finals to Sri Lanka in three straight games.
The first match saw national table tennis champions of both countries, Fathmath Dheema Ali and Erandi Warusawithana face against each other.
Sri Lanka’s national champion and highest-ranked female paddler, Erandi beat Dheema in the first set with a score of 11-4. While Dheema stepped up her game in the next set, Erandi won the second set with a score of 12-10. The third set saw Dheema putting up a strong fight and succeeding with a score of 12-14. Nevertheless, Erandi took the third set with a score of 13-11.
In the second match, Aishath Rafa Nazim went against Srilanka's Ishara Madurangi. While Ishara took the first set with a score of 11-6, Rafa took the next set with a score of 10-12. Nonetheless, Ishara succeeded in the next two sets with a score of 11-3 and 11-6.
The third and final match saw Laisa Fathulla Ismail go against Hansini Piumila.
She lost the match with the SriLankan player taking three out of four sets, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8 and 11-4.
Speaking to a RaajjeMV after the match, Coach Ibrahim Shiury stated that there were two sets where Dheema could have potentially won but luck was not in their favor. Regardless, he stated that 2019 has been the most successful year for table tennis in the country's history.
Maldivian player, Rafa, stated that she put her best effort in the match but she aims to improve her performance in the future, whereas Dheema stated that the Maldivian team played well and that the match was a good experience for the team.
