In a historic achievement, the Maldives Tennis Team recently participated in the ITF Asia Regional Qualifying event 14 & Under Development Championships in Vietnam from 8th to 17th January 2024. The team, comprising talented players Naba Nishan, Manha Mohamed Ali, Adam Aal Niyaz, and Mika Mohamed Kaleem, showcased exceptional skills and determination, leaving an indelible mark on the tournament.

Week 1 Highlights: The tournament witnessed fierce competition from countries like Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Brunei, and Bhutan. Naba Nishan emerged as a standout performer, winning both weeks and making history for the Maldives. In the Girls Singles Main Draw Quarterfinals, Naba Nishan faced off against Sandithi Usgoda Arachchi from Sri Lanka, securing a victory with a score of 7-5, 6-2.

Adam Aal Niyaz and Mika Mohamed Kaleem also displayed commendable performances in the Boys Singles Main Draw, securing victories in the 9th/16th place matches. However, the Boys Doubles Main Draw Semi-final proved challenging, as Mika Mohamed Kaleem and Adam Aal Niyaz faced a tough opponent, ultimately losing the match.

Manha Mohamed Ali, another rising star from the Maldives, showcased her skills in the Girls Singles, reaching the 9th/16th place with a convincing win against Naroth Ret from Laos.

The highlight of Week 1 was Naba Nishan’s remarkable victory in the Girls Singles Final, defeating Annaya Joanie Norbet of Sri Lanka with an impressive score of 6-1, 6-0.

Week 2 Highlights: In Week 2, The Boys Singles Main Draw Round of 16 witnessed strong performances from Adam Aal Niyaz and Mika Mohamed Kaleem, who secured victories against their opponents. In the Doubles Main Draw Quarter Final, Mika Mohamed Kaleem and Adam Aal Niyaz demonstrated teamwork, securing a win against their opponents.

Manha Mohamed Ali and Naba Nishan joined forces in the Girls Doubles Main Draw Quarterfinal, where they faced a challenging match but emerged victorious with a score of 6-0, 1-6, 13-11. However facing defeat in the doubles finals against Sri Lankans.

The Maldives girls team continued to shine, with Manha Mohamed Ali reaching the Girls Singles Final after defeating Ngoc Khanh Huynh of Vietnam in the semi-final with a score of 7-6, 6-3. Naba Nishan also secured her place in the Girls Singles Final, triumphing over Akeesha Hirundi Silva Diyunuge of Sri Lanka. The final being an all Maldivian final for the first time in history for an ITF event, where Naba Nishan shined to win the title for a second week.

In conclusion, the Maldives Tennis Team’s participation in the ITF Asia Regional Qualifying event was a historic moment for the nation. Naba Nishan’s exceptional performance, winning both weeks, marked a significant achievement for Maldivian tennis. Despite facing nations with more tennis history and experience, the Maldives team secured a remarkable 2nd place in the qualification, earning the right to compete in the main Asia region event in 2025 for the first time in history. The team’s journey reflects the dedication and talent of these young athletes, inspiring a new era for tennis in the Maldives.

TAM has announced the 16 & Under National Team tennis team participating in the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup- pre-qualifying event that will be held from 22nd February – 1st March 2020 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

3 boys and 3 girls are nominated based on the results of selection matches that was held in January 2020. The selection was played on a round-robin format amongst all players that submitted interest to participate in the selection.

The pre-qualifying round will be followed a Final qualifying round in Malaysia. The best two teams in the Junior Davis Cup pre-qualifying event will join the other 14 boys’/ girls’ teams to contest the Final qualifying round.

From the competition’s inaugural year in 1985 when 44 nations took part in regional qualifying with the top 16 boys’ and 16 girls’ teams moving through to the Final in Kobe, Japan, the competition has gone from strength to strength. The number of participants has grown to around 100 nations each year.

The 2020 Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals will be played in Lake Nona, USA. The event will be played on 16 clay courts and will be a joint operation between the International Tennis Federation and the host nation.

TAM has announced the junior tennis team participating in the ITF 14 & Under Development Championships- Regional Qualifying Event of South, South East and East Asia, which will be held from 13^th -24^th January 2020 in Manila, Philippines. Each week of the championships is equivalent to “Category 1, Asian 14&under tournament” for awarding the Asian 14&under ranking points to the players.

The Championships will incorporate a one-day training camp followed by two 5-day tournaments, all at the same venue. Players participating in the regional qualifying event of the ITF Asia 14&Under Development Championships, which has been classed as a Category 1 of Asian 14&under tournament, will be accorded Asian 14&U ranking points, based on their performance during the championships.

Top two nations from each regional qualifying event (2020) will be promoted to the ITF Asia 14 & U Development Championships – Final of the following year (2021), based on the final country ranking at the end of the championships.

Invited Nations: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Bhutan, Brunei, Timor Leste, Maldives, Cambodia, Macau, Nepal, Lao, Mongolia, Pakistan, Myanmar

The Maldives team comprises 2 boys and 2 girls namely,

We all hope for all the best for all our players and hope they give their all to bring some medals home. 

(Photos by Akram and Azma).

The tournament concluded on the 23rd of November 2019 and an event was held to jointly celebrate the successful completion of the tournament and the culmination of all events held to mark 50 years of tennis in the country.

Champions and runner-ups in the various categories are as follows:

Singles

Mens Open

C – Kenny Bun

R –  John T. S.L Dissanayake

Womens Open

C –  Savini Disanka Jayasuriya

R – Neyara Dulani Weerawansa

Mens 45 & Over

C – Saudulla Ibrahim

R – Ahmed Akram

Boys 7 & Under

C – Alson Saamee Mohamed

R – Luke Mohamed Muzzamil

Girls 7 & Under

C – Isra Aara IbrahimShafeeu

R – Taniya Nikhath Athir Abbas

Boys 8 & Under

C – Sivapalan Parvesh

R – Ibrahim Zafayan Mohamed Salam

Girls 8 & Under

C – Aishath Karin Saizan

R – Aishath Livia Khatheer

Boys 10 & Under

C – Pasindu Wathsala Rukunayaka

R – Kayan Abdulla Areef

Girls 10 & Under

C – Naba Nishan

R – Githmi Riyana Fernando

Boys 12 & Under

C – Lisal Goonetilleke

R – Mohamed Kaisaan Izzath Rasheed

Girls 12 & Under

C – Ruvi Lewkebandara

R – Aya Shafee Saeed

Boys 14 & Under

C – Lisal Goonetilleke

R – Raudhak Maumoon

Girls 14 & Under

C – Shruti Ahlawat

R – Chandni Shrinivasan

Boys Junior Open

C – Shah Mann

R – Aki Zuben Rawat

Girls Junior Open

C – Shruti Ahlawat

R – Neyara Dulani Weerawansa

Doubles

Mens Open

C – Kenny Bun+Phalkun Mam

R – Aki Zuben Rawat+Santosh Khatri

Womens Open

C – Janali Kawya Manamperi+Savini Disanka Jayasuri

R – Ganga Sharma+Isha Shree Shah

Mixed Open

C – Santosh Khatri+Ganga Sharma

R – Abdulla Faaih Fazeel+Ayani Moosa Kaleem

Mens 45 & Over

C – Mohamed Ameen+Mohamed Aslam

R – Ali Shiyam+Hamid Abdul Gafoor

Mens 55 & Over

C – Adnan Waheed+IbrahimHussain

R – IbrahimRasheed (Bc)+IbrahimRasheed (Seeney)

Girls 8 & Under

C – Aishath Karin Saizan+Aishath Livia Khatheer

R – Zahara Bassam Adeel+Zahara Lylie Shiham

Girls 10 & Under

C – Leia Thamooh Saeed+Naba Nishan

R – Laara Ahmed Yazeel+Neena Mohamed Fahir

Boys 12 & Under

C – Daoud Shaheeb+Muhammad Nooh Nazih

R – Mohamed Kaisaan Izzath Rasheed+Mohamed Meekail Ahmed

Girls 12 & Under

C – Oneli Samarawickrama+Ruvi Lewkebandara

R – Aishath Alina Naiph+Aya Shafee Saeed

Girls 14 & Under

C – Chandni Shrinivasan+Shruti Ahlawat

R – Alya Rasheed+Ayesha Zoya Ali Suzain

Boys Junior Open

C – Ayyub Shaheeb+Raudhak Maumoon

R – Ismail Nuhaik Irshan+RaimMaumoon

In addition to giving the awards to the winners of the tournament. The event also celebrated a few individuals who contributed to the association. They are the following:

• Ahmed Nazeer – President of TAM
• Ahmed Hafeez – TAM Member
• Ali Bey Maldives – Provider of an annual tennis training camp for promising young players at the  Ali Bey Resort Sorgun in Antalya, Turkey

Various notable Champions in the 50 years of tennis were given prizes for their hard work and dedication to the sport. These champions are the following (in no particualar order):

• Abdul Sattar Hassan
• Mohamed Hasaan Manik
• Amir Mansoor
• Hassan Sham
• Ignaz Mansoor
• Aminath Irufa Mahir
• Maleela Solih
• Ali Faris Mohamed
• Abudulla Faai Fazeel

With the success of this tournament where players from multiple countries participated and played against our players, shows that the Maldives is on its way to become a country where regional tennis tournaments can be held. 

There is undoubtably a lot theat needs to be done to improve tennis in the Maldives such as the following:

• Increase the pool of players in the country
• Increase the number of tennis centres which includes in the greater Male’ regions and beyond to create tennis leagues in the country
• Manage to create more competitive tennis players who have the ability to be able to play in the international areana
• Create more competitive Mens and Womens players so that there is more competitive matches in the open categories
• Creating a tennis shop in the Maldives so that players can easily obtain quality tennis equipment without having to order from abroad
• Create more recreational programmes for non-tennis players like parents of players to exercise usng tennis such as the ‘Cardio Tennis Programme’

With the above challenges in mind and more, the next 50 years is undoubtably going to be a period of rebuilding and revamping the tennis scene in the Maldives so that the sport can be one that more young people can fall in love with and decide to become new champions in the sport so that they can represent the country in various tournaments around the world.

Here is to the next 50 years of tennis in the Maldives. A stronger, bigger, and better tennis in the country for sure.

On 15th of November 2019, the aforementioned tournament was started with a lively opening ceremony despite of rain.

The chief guest of the tournament was the minister of youth and sports Mr. Ahmed Mahloof, who talked about his vision of making tennis a strong sport in the Maldives and his eagerness to see more players trying to become world class competitive tennis players and represent the country in international tournaments. He noted in order to do this there are multiple initiatives that he is working with the association such as the creation of a sister tennis centre in Hulhumale.

With this tournament, the association is looking to kick-start a new era of tennis in the Maldives, to bring tennis for everyone and also to create more competitive tennis players at various skill levels. As the fourth tennis court at the National Tennis Centre in Male’ was created right on time for the start of the tournament, this would allow for more players to play at the tennis centre and also to hold more international level tournaments there as well.

We all hope for a better and brighter future for Tennis (in the) Maldives. Good luck to all players in this tournament and most importantly – have fun.

(Pictures by Dr. Nishan and Other)