?Bahrain’s women’s table tennis team had an honourable finish at the 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championships, being held in Tokyo, in Japan.
The nationals faced a much stronger Pakistan opponent, whom they lost to 1-3 in the quarter-finals knock-out stage.
After defeating Nepal 3-0 in the first round, Bahrain continued their great form as they took the lead against Pakistan, thanks to Maryam Al Qasimi’s 3-2 win over Pakistan’s top player Shabnam Bilal. It was the first time in the event that Shabnam lost a game. The score was 12-10, 8-11, 11-4, 9-11 and 11-6.
However, Pakistan fought back strongly when Rahila Kashif defeated Kaltham Alyasi 3-0 with the set scores of 11-9, 11-6 and 11-4.
Ayesha Iqbal Ansari then outgunned Bahrain’s Fatema Al Haiki 11-9, 11-5 and 11-4 to put Pakistan 2-1 ahead. Shabnam then compensated for her loss by beating Kaltham Alyasi 3-2 in the fourth game to bring a fine victory for Pakistan.
After winning the first two sets 13-11 and 11-5, Shabnam had to face anxious moments when Kaltham won the next two sets 11-8 and 13-11 to level the score.
However, Shabnam brought into practice her whole experience and won the fifth and decisive set 11-3 to complete a deserved victory. The score was 13-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-13 and 11-3.
In the men’s section, Bahrain also had a good achievement as they made it to the second round, where were ousted by Uzbekistan with an identical score of 3-1.
Earlier in the tournament, the Bahrainis made it to this stage after finishing their round robin league phase in third place with three wins from five matches.
They completed their Group ‘N’ battle with eight points, registering 3-0 victories over Angola and Mauritius, before defeating Mongolia 3-2 to punch the third and last ticket from this six-team group, which also comprised winners the Philippines and runners-up Peru.
Late on, Bahrain took on Syria in the first tie in the knock-out and succeeded to qualify with a 3-1 win, setting up their second round clash with Uzbekistan.
Bahrain’s results were praised by Bahrain Olympic Committee member and Bahrain Table Tennis Association President Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa.
Shaikha Hayat said the achievement underlines the noticeable support table tennis is receiving from the Kingdom’s sports leadership, headed by Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman and BOC President Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.