Syahir wants 20-year wait for takraw gold to end

PETALING JAYA: Twenty years on and the gold medals won in sepaktakraw at the 1990 Beijing and 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games are beginning to seem like a folklore to some.

Even young tekong Syahir Rosdi, who will be making his Asiad debut, wasn’t born yet when Malaysia bagged the double (team and regu) in 1990 and the regu gold four years later. The team event was not contested in 1994.

Syahir’s impressive displays against Brunei (semi-finals) and Thailand (final) at the ISTAF SuperSeries Finals in Kuala Lumpur in March and at the King’s Cup last month have earned him a call-up to the Incheon-bound squad.

“Playing in the ISTAF Finals and the King’s Cup last month have given me some much-needed big-game experience. It’s going to be a totally different experience for me (in Incheon), but it’s one that I’m definitely ready for,” said the Penangite, who at 18 is also the youngest in the squad.

“I’d really want to take home the two golds (team and regu) ... just like in Beijing. That would be a dream debut.”

Malaysia will be sending a much-changed line-up from the 2013 Myanmar SEA Games squad, who picked up a regu silver and a team bronze.

The most notable absentees include first-choice killer Hanafiah Dolah and Norshahruddin Mad Ghani, who have been replaced by Zamree Dahan, Helmi Ismail, Fadzli Roslan.

Malaysia will see action at the Bucheon Gymnasium from Sept 24-Oct 3. They are set to face Indonesia and China in the team event while South Korea, Brunei, India and Nepal await them in the regu.

Malaysia will have to be wary of South Korea, who beat them in the final of the New Delhi-leg of the ISTAF SuperSeries last year.

“Both competitions (regu and team) won’t be easy. Yes, Thailand are our biggest rivals, but a lot of the other countries have also improved. So, we have to be on our toes,” said Syahir.

In the 2010 Guangzhou Games, Malaysia finished second best to Thailand in the team and regu events.