KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's failure to win the doubles gold at the 2025 Asia Cup Sepak Takraw Championship yesterday has boiled down to players making mistakes at critical moments.
Beyond according blame, Malaysian Sepak Takraw Association (PSM) president Datuk Mohd Sumali Reduan, who in analysis was of that opinion, declared that his team would fix the delicate problem before the King's Cup in July.
"If you ask me, the teams in this doubles event are very evenly balanced and whoever makes a mistake will pay a high price. We have seen how small mistakes can change the direction of the entire match.
"However, we admit that there is still a lot of room for improvement. Some mistakes should not have happened during key moments," he told Bernama yesterday.
Malaysia's desire to win the doubles title following its first success in the quadrant event played earlier at the 2025 Asia Cup was dashed when they lost 1-2 to traditional takraw arch-rivals Thailand in the final yesterday.
Asked to comment on the triumphant national quadrant squad, Sumali had effusive praise for the players who successfully delivered the country's first gold medal at the competition.
"I am happy with the players' delivery in the men’s quadrant. Since the beginning, I have focused on that and it seems that it has paid off.
"The quadrant is an event we have never seriously participated in before and I am glad that we managed to emerge as champions," he said.
Yesterday, the national quadrant squad made history by becoming champions after defeating Japan 2-0 for the country’s first gold at the 2025 Asia Cup at the packed Titiwangsa Stadium.
The national squad comprising Muhammad Afifuddin Mohd Razali, Amirul Zazwan Amir, Norfaizzul Abd Razak and Muhammad Shahril Aiman Halim had no trouble defeating the squad from the Land of the Rising Sun in straight sets of 15-8, 15-11.
In competition format, after the quadrant and doubles events, the regu event starts today.
-- BERNAMA
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