HANOI: As expected, the national ‘s men’s sepak takraw squad were no match for Thailand, losing 0-2 in their opening Group C match in the inter-regu competition at the Hoang Mai Sports Centre here today.
Malaysia’s trio of Muhammad Zarif Marican Ibrahim Marican, Norfaizzul Abd Razak and Muhammad Afifuddin Mohd Razali lost 16-21, 9-21 in 35 minutes despite Thailand not fielding their star player Pornchai Kaokaew.
In today’s action, Thailand fielded the trio of Sittipong Khamchan, Patarapong Yupadee and Jirasak Pakbuangoen who were the first of three teams that won the team event gold yesterday.
The defeat sees Malaysia in a do-or-die mission against Vietnam in their second group match tomorrow to book a slot in the semi -finals.
For Norfaizzul, despite losing, he was relieved as no injuries plagued the team in the hunt for victory against the hosts tomorrow.
However, he hopes the team can reduce simple mistakes and come up with a neater game.
“During the first set (against Thailand) we could compete but we made a lot of mistakes in the second which allowed Thailand to pull away,“ he said when met by reporters.
Commenting on tomorrow’s match against a vociferous home crowd, Norfaizzul said the experience of playing in the (Malaysia’s) Sepak Takraw League (STL) made him ready for all possibilities.
“After all, what they (spectators) will be saying we won’t even understand. We promise to do our best against Vietnam and get a slot to the semi -finals.
“God willing, we will rise up against Vietnam, their strength is through the greatness of their tekong who does a mean serve, so we have to improve our defence well,“ he said.
For the record, the last time Malaysia won gold in the men’s inter-regu was at the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games 2017 but at that time Thailand did not participate.
Meanwhile, the national women’s squad started the league round on the right footing when they beat Myanmar 2-0 and will play against the hosts in the second match, this afternoon. - Bernama
