36th Thailand King's Cup to be the biggest in history

KUALA LUMPUR - The 36th King’s Cup Sepaktakraw Championships which kicks off in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand over the weekend is set to be the biggest ever championships in the history of the competition with more than 700 players and officials participating.

International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) secretary-general Datuk Abdul Halim Kader said players from 25 countries, including from Malaysia, will showcase their skills in the championships held from July 9 to16.

Abdul Halim who is also the Asian Sepaktakraw Federation (ASTAF) president said Mohd Syahir Rosdi, Khairol Zaman Hamir Akbar, Mohamad Azlan Alias, Farhan Adam and Muqhlis Borhan are among the main players who will feature in the Malaysian squad.

"ASTAF and ISTAF are very confident that the championships held this year will be even more exciting due to the participation of players from more than 25 countries. The championships will be the best platform for players to show off their skills.

"The scale of the championships also shows that sepaktakraw has become popular in many parts of the world and an excellent medium to promote the sport to be included in the Olympic Games programme,” he said in a statement today.

The events to be contested in the championships this time around are team event, regu, quadran and hoop, featuring categories for men, women and mixed team.

Apart from Malaysia and host Thailand, countries participating in the championships include Indonesia, Iran, Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Sri Lanka, India and Japan.

"We held a discussion with Thailand to seek the country’s understanding to not participate in the men’s and women’s quadran events to give other countries an opportunity to win and we are glad that a consensus has been reached with the host country,” he said. - Bernama