Korea take sepaktakraw silver in women's team regu

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Korea take sepaktakraw silver in women's team regu

Published: 29 Sep. 2023, 11:37 Updated: 29 Sep. 2023, 15:51

JIM BULLEY
jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr

Members of the Korean team celebrate scoring during the women's team regu gold medal sepaktakraw match between Korea and Thailand at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Friday. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

Korea earned its second sepaktakraw medal of the 19th Asian Games on Friday, losing 2-0 to Thailand in the women’s team regu to take silver.

Sepaktakraw: Korea is winning games, but what actually is it?

Thailand, by far the strongest nation in sepaktakraw and the defending Asian Games champions, made short work of the Korean squad, winning every set to comfortably take the women’s title.

The result matched the 2018 Games, when Thailand took gold and Korea silver.

Friday’s result matched the semifinals of men’s team regu competition, when Korea came up against Thailand in the semifinals and lost to take a bronze medal — again repeating the 2018 result.

Sepaktakraw is a sport with origins in Southeast Asia. “Sepak” translates to “kick” in Malay, and “tekraw” is the Thai word for the woven rattan ball used in play on a badminton-size court.

The rules are similar to volleyball where the goal is to get the ball over the court in three touches or less, and the team wins a point when their opponents fail to return the rally. But players are barred from using their hands, instead blocking the ball with their heads and their feet.

In regu, three players take each side of the court: a feeder, striker and tekong. To start each rally, the feeder throws the ball to the tekong, who leaps up and smashes the ball across the court in a serve. The tekong will typically stay near the back during the match, while the striker is the one primarily responsible for blocks. The first side to 21 points wins.

In team regu, each of the rounds in a three-set match is played by different members of the national team.
Although the team regu schedule at the Asian Games is now complete, sepaktakraw will continue Saturday with the quadrant events, with the classic regu to follow next week.

BY JIM BULLEY AND MARY YANG [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]