The Bank of Maldives with the athletes who received scholarships ©Bank of Maldives

The Maldives Olympic Committee (MOC) has selected seven athletes who will receive scholarships to continue their training overseas.

This funding is provided by the Bank of Maldives through their Sports Scholarships programme.

The Bank of Maldives Sports Scholarships was introduced as part of the series of 12 high-impact monthly community initiatives to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the bank.

Mohamed Abdul Sattar, the President of the MOC; Bank of Maldives chief executive and managing director Karl Stumke, officials from the MOC and representatives from National Federations attended the ceremony held at Male Table Tennis Hall to announce the winners.

Teenage sprinter Mariyam Ru-ya Ali, who competed at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and made the final of the Asian Under-18 Athletics Championships last year, is one of the recipients.

Fellow sprinter Mohamed Minhal Shamin has been selected too alongside badminton players Mohamed Salim Abdul Samad and Shuba Mohamed Shareef.

Fathimath Jumana Nimal is one of the seven players to receive funding from the Bank of Maldives ©Getty Images
Fathimath Jumana Nimal is one of the seven players to receive funding from the Bank of Maldives ©Getty Images

Fathimath Jumana Nimal, a table tennis player who was her nation's flagbearer at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony, has been recognised with fellow player Moosa Munsif Ahmed, who was also in the table tennis team with her at the Games.

The final recipient is tennis player Layan Mohamed Shamin.

The scholarship was announced to support athletes achieve results through targeted programmes, allowing them to use high-performance training centres and travel to international competitions.