Medicine and Surgery undergraduate Rafa Nazim is competing for the Maldives at the Asian Table Tennis Championships
A University of Central Lancashire student is heading to Kazakhstan to represent her country in an international sports competition.
Aishath Rafa Nazim, known as Rafa, is travelling to Astana to compete for the Maldives in the 27th Asian Table Tennis Championships.
The first-year medicine and surgery (MBBS) student will face players from 19 other Asian countries, including the table tennis powerhouses of China, Japan and South Korea.
The 21-year-old, who first started playing with her dad when she was seven, said: “It's always an amazing feeling to know that you are representing your country.
“There's a sense of pride in wearing the flag on your chest and competing against world-class players.
“I have been competing internationally since I was 11-years-old, so it's not a new feeling, but it's one that you never really get used to.”
"There's a sense of pride in wearing the flag on your chest and competing against world-class players"
— Rafa Nazim, who is representing the Maldives at the 27th Asian Table Tennis Championships
The Asian Table Tennis Championships acts as a qualifier for the World Championships so it is a chance for Rafa and her three Maldivian teammates to gain world rankings points.
“It’s a very important competition for us because we can improve our global standing in both singles and the team competitions,” she said. “We’re not a huge country in terms of playing table tennis but if we can beat some of the players from countries like Pakistan, Nepal or Sri Lanka then that would be great.”
The highlight of her sporting career so far has been representing her country in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which were held in Birmingham. Points gained in this competition will also count towards qualifying for the next Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Rafa, who completed a Foundation degree at the University’s West Cumbria Campus before enrolling on the five-year medicine programme in Preston, has received a Gold level Sports Scholarship from the University, worth up to £7,000 a year, to allow her to combine her sporting prowess with her studies.
She commented: “I am really glad the University takes the initiative to provide support to students who would like to continue their sports while studying.
“The Scholarship has given me the opportunity to work on the mental, physical and technical aspects of table tennis as they provide free mental training sessions, physiotherapy sessions, physical training sessions and other forms of support.
"I am really glad the University takes the initiative to provide support to students who would like to continue their sports while studying"
— Rafa Nazim, first-year medicine and surgery student
“The money also really helps when it comes to buying good equipment for training as well as helping with transport expenses, especially when I had to travel down from the Westlakes Campus to Preston last year for practices.”
Rafa trains five days a week and is coached by Daniel O'Connell, the University’s Table Tennis Team coach, in the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre.
The right-handed player said: “I have had a lot of support and help from Dan regarding training and also finding opportunities to practise with other strong players in the UK. To help with training locally, he’s organised for me to play people at Cardinal Newman College and at Bolton so I am extremely grateful for his help.”
After being born in Malé, her family moved to New Zealand for a couple of years before returning home. After another two years in the Maldives, her family moved to Norwich, in England, for four years. They returned to the Maldives in 2011 and Rafa lived there until moving to the north west to study.
She added: “I have always had an interest in medicine. The ability to provide people with a better quality of life is something that I am very passionate about, especially after doing work experience at a hospital back at home for around six months. I was able to see the reality of what healthcare workers do and the impact they have on peoples' lives.
“I saw that the University of Central Lancashire was one of the universities that gave hands on clinical experience starting from Year 1 which really piqued my interest. The spiral curriculum of the medical course also really aligned with how I wanted to learn about the different aspects of medicine.”
The championships take place from 6 to 13 October.
*Photos credited to the Maldives National Olympic Committee
