Asiad: Towering tekong confident of two-gold haul
KUALA LUMPUR: The ‘tekong’ of the national sepaktakraw squad Muhammad Syahir Mohd Rosdi has set himself a lofty target of winning two gold medals at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held from Sept 23 to Oct 8.
Though the Sepaktakraw Association of Malaysia (PSM) has only set one gold medal target from the ‘inter-regu’ and a silver from the Team Regu, Muhammad Syahir believes the quality of the players in the squad has boosted the confidence to fight for the gold in both events.
It will be a tall order, especially with sepaktakraw kingpins Thailand also eyeing for the golds.
“We are determined to win the gold medal at the Asian Games which is regarded as a priced competition. For sepaktakraw, the Asian Games is the most prestigious competition. And it is like the World Cup of sepaktakraw," said the towering Muhammad Syahir, who stands at 192cm tall.
“We know that Thailand is a solid team but we too are a formidable team. That doesn’t mean we are underestimating the prowess of Indonesia, South Korea and India because these teams have been improving fast,” he told reporters after a visit by Asian Games chef-de-mission Datuk Chong Kim Fatt to the sepaktakraw team’s training session, here yesterday.
Muhammad Syahir, who will be making his third appearance in the Asian Games, said a threeweek training stint in Ratchaburi and a competition in Pattaya, Thailand last month as part of the team’s preparation for the Asian Games had certainly boosted the team’s confidence and performance.
Meanwhile, national sepaktakraw squad coach Ahmad Jais Baharun said all the players in the team were in the best shape to face the competition in Hangzhou, except for Mohamad Azlan Alias and Haziq Hairul Nizam who are still recovering from injury.
“Their injuries is not serious and undergoing physiotherapy at the National Sports Institute (ISN). They should be ready for the Asian Games in Hangzhou,” he said adding that competition in Hangzhou will be very stiff.
In the Inter-Regu event, defending champion Malaysia are drawn in Group A with Singapore and Vietnam while Thailand head Group B with the Philippines, India and Myanmar providing the challenge.
For the Team Regu event, Malaysia are in Group B with traditional rivals Indonesia and South Korea while Thailand will face Japan and Laos in Group A.
In the 2018 Asian Games hosted by Indonesia and held in Jakarta Palembang, Malaysia won the Inter-Regu gold in the absence of Thailand and managed a silver from the Team Regu event after losing to Thailand in the final.