Korean sepaktakraw kicks off women's regu with a win and a loss

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Korean sepaktakraw kicks off women's regu with a win and a loss

Published: 05 Oct. 2023, 17:32 Updated: 05 Oct. 2023, 18:54

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

Korea's Jeon Gyu-mi, front, and Myanmar's Khin Hnin Wai, second from left, compete during the women's regu preliminary sepaktakraw game at the Hangzhou Asian Games in Jinhua, China on Thursday. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

The Korean women’s sepaktakraw regu team started their bid to win the country’s third medal in the sport at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Thursday, finishing with a win and a loss on the first day of the preliminary stage.

Korea faced Myanmar in their first game on the court at the Jinhua Sports Centre Gymnasium in Jinhua, China, winning the first set 21-19 and second set 21-12 for a final score of 2-0. They failed to ride that momentum against defending champions Thailand in their second game of the day, however, losing the first set 21-7 and second set 21-10 for a 2-0 loss.

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.

Korea is competing against fellow Group B teams Myanmar and Thailand in the preliminary stage. If Thailand beats Myanmar in their next game on Friday, Korea will reach the semifinals alongside Thailand.

Korea has already secured two medals in sepaktakraw at this year's Asiad — one silver in women’s team regu and one bronze in men’s team regu.

In team regu, each of the rounds in a three-set match is played by different members of the national team.

The women’s regu schedule will continue through Saturday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN AND MARY YANG [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]