Malaysia looks all set to breeze into the quarterfinals of the ISTAF SuperSeries FINALS 2013/14 after being drawn in Group B of the tournament alongside Singapore and tournament first-timers France.
The national team, who have made it to all three finals of the elite, international tournament’s preliminary legs but have yet to be crowned champions, is seeded joint first alongside defending champions Thailand in the SuperSeries FINALS, to be contested March 5 – 9 at the Titiwangsa Indoor Stadium here.
“We may seem to have an easy route on paper, but we have learnt to never underestimate any team, even if it’s their first time in this tournament,” said national coach Jamaluddin Hassan at the tournament draw here today. “As hosts, we will go all out to qualify for the final and do our very best to win this time around.
He added that he has yet to finalise his team for the tournament, but that it would not include striker and captain Norshahruddin Mad Ghani, who is out injured.
Thailand has been drawn with India and Germany in Group A. Group C has fourth seeds Indonesia, Korea and the USA while Group D has third seeds Japan, Brunei, China and Iran.
France was granted a wild card entry in the men’s category and Myanmar in the women’s category in a bid to further develop and strengthen the international sepaktakraw footprint.
In the women’s category, joint third seeds Malaysia have been drawn in Group C with Japan and India. Top seeds and defending champions Thailand, who has won all three preliminary ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 legs, are drawn with Indonesia and China while Group B has second seeds Vietnam, Myanmar and third joint seeds Korea.
The tournament, which is the culmination of the ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 season and determines the overall men’s and women’s champions, will for the first time ever feature 13 of the world’s top men’s team and nine of the best women’s teams.
This is the second time Kuala Lumpur will play host to an international-level sepaktakraw tournament following the hugely successful ISTAF World Cup in 2011, also at the Titiwangsa Indoor Stadium. Malaysia also hosted the third-leg of the ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 in October 2013 at the Likas Indoor Stadium in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The first two legs were held in New Delhi in August 2013 and Bangkok in September 2013.
The tournament is organised by Persatuan Sepaktakraw Malaysia (PSM) and supported by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF). The ISTAF SuperSeries platform was created by Asia Sports Ventures (ASV), ISTAF’s exclusive global commercial and developmental partner.
ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 kicked off with ISTAF SuperSeries India in New Delhi (August 29-September 1), followed by ISTAF SuperSeries Thailand in Bangkok (September 26-29) and ISTAF SuperSeries Malaysia in Sabah (October 30-November 3).
The ISTAF SuperSeries is the first and only elite platform for regular sepaktakraw competition at the highest level. Alongside the ISTAF World Cup, the elite, internationally-recognised ISTAF SuperSeries is the only sepaktakraw tournament acknowledged by ISTAF and plays a key role in deciding the official ISTAF World Rankings.
The ISTAF SuperSeries FINALS 2013/14 will be televised on ASTRO Arena, ASTRO SuperSports and SuperSports HD (all in High Definition) and RTM. Selected matches including the men’s quarter-finals, third-fourth placing match and both men’s and women’s finals will be aired live. The tournament will also be telecast to 70 countries worldwide.
Groupings
ISTAF SuperSeries FINALS 2013/14
March 5th – 9th
Men’s competition
Group A: Thailand, Germany, India
Group B: Malaysia, France, Singapore
Group C: Indonesia, USA, Korea
Group D: Japan, Brunei, China, Iran
Women’s competition
Group A: Thailand, Indonesia, China
Group B: Vietnam, Myanmar, Korea
Group C: Malaysia, Japan, India
