Bangladesh have confirmed at least a bronze medal in table tennis at the ongoing Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
On Wednesday, the mixed doubles pair of Javed Ahmed and Khoy Khoy Marma beat the Maldives 3-0 in the quarter-finals to book their place in the last four. Under table tennis regulations, both losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze medals, ensuring Bangladesh another addition to their tally.
The Bangladeshi duo will face Bahrain in Thursday’s semi-final, with the winners set to meet either Turkey or Azerbaijan in the final.
In their quarter-final victory, Javed and Khoy Khoy fought hard to take the opening game 14-12 before comfortably sealing the next two 11-5 and 11-8 against the Maldivian pair of Nazif and Mansif. Earlier, they edged past Guyana 3-2 in the round of 16 to reach the quarter-finals.
Bangladesh have already collected three bronze medals at the Games, all in weightlifting, where Marjia Akter Ekra claimed three in the 53kg category.
Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation Secretary General Captain Maksud Ahmed congratulated the players and announced a cash reward of BDT 25,000 each for Javed and Khoy Khoy. The bonus will increase to BDT 100,000 if they win silver and BDT 200,000 if they take gold, according to a press release from the federation.
