“During my childhood, I loved watching table tennis from a distance. It felt as though someone was gently swaying and dancing while playing. With the bat in hand, it seemed as if Khoi Khoi Marma was becoming an artist,” said former national table tennis champion and current coach Mostafa Billah.
As he spoke about his student, his eyes sparkled. He had personally witnessed the rise of Rangamati’s daughter Khoi Khoi Marma.
Khoi Khoi first drew attention in 2018 when she came to compete at the national level representing Quantum Cosmo School.
She used to travel with the school team to Dhaka to compete and return with them afterwards. That was the rule for students of the residential school. Khoi Khoi grew up in this very institution.
Her farmer parents did not have the financial capacity to educate both daughters.
As a result, the two sisters were enrolled at Quantum Cosmo School, where education, accommodation and meals are provided free of charge, along with opportunities for sports.
Initially, Khoi Khoi focused more on her studies and played table tennis simply as a hobby. However, the bat and ball gradually became a part of her life—something eight year old Khoi Khoi could hardly have imagined at the time.
Representing the school, she travelled regularly to Dhaka to compete at the national level. From there, the Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation selected four players for advanced training.
Under the supervision of the federation’s academy, their training began. They were later brought from Bandarban to Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) in Dhaka.
Because the four players arrived together, adapting to life at BKSP did not prove particularly difficult. Their coaches and senior players helped them greatly.
Khoi Khoi Marma recalled, “There was a time when I used to watch Mou Apa and Soma Apa play. After coming to BKSP, I trained with them regularly. They treated me with affection like a younger sister.”
In 2023, Khoi Khoi won the junior title at the national championship. In the senior category, however, she lost in the quarter-final to Sadia Rahman Mou.
Since then, she has not looked back. By 2026, she secured titles in both the junior and senior categories, defeating Sadia Rahman Mou in the process.
At the 40th National Table Tennis Championship, she competed in eight events and won medals in all of them, achieving the rare feat of claiming six gold medals along with one silver and one bronze.
Khoi Khoi has also begun to shine on the international stage. During a competition in Maldives, she faced a player ranked second in the junior world rankings.
Watching her performance, it was hard to believe that it was her first match on foreign soil. However, she had to wait until 2025 to secure an international medal. She won a silver medal in mixed doubles alongside Javed Ahmed.
Interestingly, she had neither played with Javed Ahmed before nor spoken with him properly.
In fact, the Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation had taken a gamble by pairing them together. The duo justified that gamble impressively.
On the court, they discovered their rhythm and ultimately brought Bangladesh an international medal and honour.
There was a time, however, when her father had to endure taunts from others for having two daughters. Many people would say that he had no sons and ask who would support him in old age.
Khoi Khoi said, “When I was admitted to Quantum, we had to hear many things. People said that if I had been a boy, I could work, but as a girl I could not. From that time, I wanted to achieve something in life that would bring a smile to my parents’ faces.”
Her achievements have not only brought joy to her family but have also led to a promise of a new house for them.
An officer of the Rajasthali upazila union parishad has made that promise, and work towards it has already begun.
Despite all these achievements, Khoi Khoi has not forgotten her past. She calls for more opportunities to bring forward thousands of players like herself.
She said, “Perhaps I was able to rise because I studied at Quantum School and had the chance to come to Dhaka to compete. But many others do not get that opportunity, especially girls. If players were regularly selected from the national level, many more like us might have emerged.”
The South Asian Games are approaching, and she is currently preparing for them. At the same time, she has set her sights on the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
She was only 16 during the previous Olympic cycle and did not have the opportunity to compete in the qualification rounds for Bangladesh. This time, she does not want to let that opportunity slip away.