King's Cup Is Last Chance To Assess Thais Before Laos Sea Games - Coach

KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 (Bernama) -- The King's Cup Sepak Takraw championship in Bangkok next month is expected to be the national takraw squad's last chance to evaluate the strength of the Thai squad in a competition before the Laos SEA Games in December.

After the King's Cup competition, scheduled from July 6-12, the Malaysian Sepak Takraw Association (PSM) has only lined up a number of friendly matches against clubs in the country.

"We will be sending about 15 players for the tournament to play in the team and inter-regu categories. It will also be a place for our players to show their mettle," national coach Haris Abd Rahman told Bernama Monday.

Haris said during the World Sepak Takraw Championships in Terengganu last month, Thailand had only sent a number of senior players. The rest were made of young players since the Thais have a big pool of players, unlike Malaysia," he said.

However, despite the limited resources in their arsenal, Thailand were able to emerge champion in the team, inter-regu and doubles.

He added that a post-mortem was conducted after the national team's unexpected loss to Indonesia in the team event of the World Championship and a report was being prepared.

Haris also welcomed experienced "killer" Mohd Azlan Mubin back to the squad after undergoing surgery early this year and feels his presence will be vital to the team.



-- BERNAMA