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.