Bangladesh celebrated a landmark achievement in table tennis on Wednesday, 13 November 2025, at the 6th Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The mixed doubles pair of Md Javed Ahmed and Khai Khai Sai Marma reached the final but were beaten 0–3 by a strong Turkish team, losing 5–11, 8–11, 6–11. The Turks fielded world-ranked players Sibel Altinkaya (women’s world ranking 80) and Ibrahim Gunduz (men’s world ranking 262), while the Bangladeshi duo had no international ranking.
This year, Bangladesh sent 36 athletes across 10 disciplines under the Bangladesh Olympic Association. From the Games, the country secured one silver in table tennis and three bronze medals in weightlifting.
Although table tennis has been played internationally for nearly 100 years, Bangladesh has a comparatively short 50-year history in the sport, with most successes confined to the South Asian level, particularly among juniors.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Bangladeshi pair defeated Bahrain’s Rashed and Kenda Mohammed 3–1 in the semi-finals (13–11, 7–11, 12–10, 11–3) to book their place in the final. On Tuesday, they overcame Guyana 3–2 (13–11, 7–11, 12–10, 11–3) in the round of 16, and then defeated the Maldives 3–0 in the quarter-finals to secure at least a medal.
Captain Maksud Ahmed Sonet, general secretary of the Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation, praised the players’ efforts. “Without proper gym facilities and competing in a non-air-conditioned auditorium with limited resources, our boys and girls gave their utmost,” he said. The silver medallists have been awarded BDT 50,000 each, totalling BDT 100,000 in cash prizes from the federation.
Maksud added that consistent participation in tournaments — including the EM Cup, President’s Cup, Federation Cup, a five-month SA Games camp, South Asian junior and senior tournaments in Nepal, the Asian Teams Tournament in Bhubaneswar, India, and the Youth Games in Bahrain — has steadily improved Bangladesh’s standard in table tennis. Sustaining this momentum could see Bangladesh emerge as the second-strongest team in South Asia, behind India.
