Asian Beach Games 2026: Strong Performances from Maldives Beach Volleyball Pairs

At the ongoing 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China, Maldives’ beach volleyball teams competed in their opening matches today, facing strong international opponents.

Maldives is represented by four beach volleyball pairs at the Games—two men’s pairs and two women’s pairs. The men’s teams include Ahmed Mohamed & Ibrahim Raakin Hassan, and Ismail Sajid & Adam Naseem. The women’s teams are Aiminath Arisha & Fathimath Anaal, and Mariyam Rishfa & Aishath Ishfau Issa.

The Maldivian pairs faced tough competition in their opening fixtures. In the women’s Pool F match, the young pair of Rishfa and Ishfau competed against Indonesia’s Nur Atika and Josephine Selvinah, with the Indonesian pair securing the win in straight sets.

In Pool E of the women’s competition, Anaal and Arisha faced a strong Japanese pair, Sakura Ito and Miki Ishii, who won the match in two sets.

One of the most notable matches of the day came in the men’s Pool B, where Sajid and Adam Naseem took on one of the top-ranked pairs in the tournament—Qatar’s Cherif Samba and Ahmed Tijan. Although the Qatari pair won in straight sets, the Maldivian duo delivered a commendable performance, even taking the lead during the first set before it ended 21–16. In the second set, despite their efforts, Qatar secured the set 21–10.

In Pool D, Raakin and Ahmed Mohamed faced Japan’s Hiroki Dylan and Jumpei Ikeda. The Japanese pair won the match 2–0, although the Maldivian pair showed a strong and competitive performance, particularly in the second set.

All four Maldivian pairs are scheduled to compete in further matches tomorrow.