Edghill storms into singles quarter-final at Islamic Games

Chelsea Edghill has earned a spot in the Women’s Singles Round of 16 after a mixed bag of results on Tuesday for the Guyanese table tennis team at the 2025 Islamic Games in Saudi Arabia.

Elishaba Johnson began proceedings on Tuesday morning with a 4-0 win over Mauritania’s El Hacen Ahmed Salem in the men’s Singles Round of 64. Johnson won 11-4, 11-3, 11-1, and 11-3.
Then, Chelsea Edghill went the distance in a seven-set encounter with Aishath Rafa Nazim of the Maldives for a win in the Women’s Singles Round of 32. The set unfolded in the Guyanese Olympian’s favour 13-11, 6-11, 6-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9.
However, Jasmine Billingy’s fortunes were different, as she lost to Turkey’s Ece Harac 11-2, 11-4, 11-3, and 11-7.
Unfortunately, Shemar Britton also lost, fallingto Saudi Arabia’s Alu Alkhadrawi 11-6, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 in the men’s Singles Round of 32.
Johnson, who had earlier in the day advanced to that round, met a similar fate when he faced Amir Hossein Hodaei of Iran. Hodaei prevailed 11-2, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4.
However, Edghill managed to lift the spirits of the Guyanese team in Saudi Arabia with another nail-biting win, this time against Uganda’s Judith Parvin Nangonzi. The seven-game match ended in Edghill’s favour 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 14-12, 9-11, and 11-8, to advance to the quarterfinals.
The table tennis action at the Boulevard SEF Arena in Riyadh City will continue today with the Guyanese pairs springing into action.
Edghill and Britton will team up to take on the Bangladesh pair in the mixed doubles round of 16, while Britton will later join forces with Nigel Bryan for a matchup with Uganda in the men’s doubles round of 16. In the women’s doubles Round of 16, Edghill and Billingy are scheduled to take on Iran.
There will also be singles’ action on the cards as Edghill prepares to take on Sibel Altinkaya of Turkey in the women’s singles quarterfinal.