Dammam, Saudi Arabia: National table tennis player Fathimath Dheema Ali has secured a bronze medal in the U19 singles category at the WTT Youth Contender Dammam 2025.
Dheema’s campaign ended in the semifinals, where she was defeated 3–0 by Li Cheuk Tung of New Zealand, with set scores of 11–09, 11–09, 11–05.
It was a tightly fought tournament for Dheema. In her opening group match, she faced Egypt’s Habiba Elbasoumy, losing a close contest 3–2 after winning the first two sets. In her second group match, she came from behind to defeat Iran’s Melika Abbasi 3–1, after Melika claimed the opening set.
Advancing to the knockout stages, Dheema beat Georgia’s Tekla Liparteliani 3–0 in the Round of 16, and later overcame another Georgian player, Anastasia Chkhartishvili, 3–1 in the quarterfinals, before eventually falling in the semifinal.
In the U17 category of the WTT Youth Contender Dammam, Maldivian national player Aishath Alsa Nafiz reached the Round of 16 in the singles event. Alsa defeated Bahrain’s Dana Alkhayyat 3–1 in her second group match, after losing her opener 3–0 to Japan’s Miku Matsushima, who went on to reach the final.
In the Round of 16, Alsa produced a strong performance against Kazakhstan’s Ainaz Adilgereyeva, but narrowly lost 3–2. Ainaz took the first set 11–08, before Alsa battled back to win the next two sets 12–10 and 13–11. However, Ainaz claimed the final two sets 11–09 and 11–02 to win the match.
