PETALING JAYA: National sepak takraw team booked their place in the men’s team regu final after staging a superb comeback to beat Indonesia in the semi-finals on Thursday (Sept 24).
They will collide with old foes Thailand in the final after the defending champions cruised past hosts Japan 3-0 in the other semi-final at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Gymnasium.
The final will be held on Friday (Sept 25, 1pm).
Malaysia are now one win away from ending a 36-year wait for the men’s team regu gold, having last won the title at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games.
In the tie against Indonesia, Malaysia suffered an early setback when their first regu of Zulkifli Abd Razak, Aidil Aiman Azwawi and Afifudin Razali went down 15-10, 13-15, 13-15 to Indonesia’s Saiful Rijal, Yudha Aswinata and Muhammad Hardiansyah Muliang.
The second regu of Syahir Rosdi, Farhan Adam and Mohamad Azlan Alias then levelled the score with a convincing 15-10, 15-6 win over Jelki Ladada, Syamsul Akmal and Andy Try Sandi Saputra.
Malaysia’s hopes then rested on the third regu of Zarif Marican Ibrahim, Amirul Zazwan Amir and Hafizul Hayazi Adnan.
They lost the opening set but fought back to seal a dramatic 11-15, 15-11, 15-11 victory over Gelvin Usman, Rizki Yusuf and Mohamad Ubaidur.
