HANGZHOU, Oct 5 — Malaysia lived up to expectations by marching into the semifinals as winners of Group A in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games sepak takraw competition at the Jinhua Sports Complex Gymnasium today.
The squad under Ahmad Jais Baharun topped Group A after beating Vietnam and Singapore in their group matches at the Jinhua Sports Complex Gymnasium about 170km from here.
In the first action of the day against Vietnam this morning, the first Malaysian regu comprising Muhammad Afifuddin Mohd Razali, Amirul Zazwan Amir and Muhammad Zarif Marican were given an early scare when Vietnam trio Dau Van Hoang, Vuong Minh Chau and Nguyen Hoang Lan took the first games 21 – 17.
However, the Malaysian trio bounced back to take the next two games 21 – 9, 21 – 11, while the positive momentum was continued by the second regu when Mohamad Azlan Alias, Amirul Zazwan and Muhammad Zarif beat Singapore’s Muhammad A’fif Safiee, Muhammad Ramli Saari and Asy Syariq Mohamad Khalid 21 – 10, 21 – 6 in straight set.
Malaysia’s semifinal opponent will be known tomorrow when Group B matches involving Thailand, Myanmar, India, and the Philippines are completed.
— Bernama
