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| Sunday, 4 July 2004 |
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Hajireen elected Vice President Asian Sepaktakraw Fed. by Lal Gunesekera Former Sri Lanka double international, Nizam Hajireen, was unanimously elected as a Vice-President of the Asian Sepaktakraw Federation (ASTAF) for yet another term at its Congress in Bangkok, Thailand recently. He was also elected Deputy Chairman of the Technical Committee of the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) too. Representatives of 15 countries attended the ASTAF Congress and Sri Lanka were represented by Hajireen who is President of the Amateur Sepaktakraw Association of Sri Lanka, and M. Afzal, who is a member of the Executive Committee. Innovative and new concepts of the game were introduced by Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore where the new "Double Event" will see only two players instead of the customary three players to a team. A trial period upto end August was decided upon by the Technical Committee of ISTAF and all countries have been requested to give a feed-back for the rules and regulations to be streamlined and incorporated into the laws of the game. Singapore also introduced Beach Sepaktakraw which is gaining in popularity with Brazil showing a keen interest. Thailand introduced 'Hoop Takraw' and these three new games will be seen at all future tournaments. Four tournaments are down to be staged from September to December. The World Invitation Championships will be held in Malaysia on September 23, Hanoi Open Championships in Vietnam on October 4, Beach Sepaktakraw Championships in Singapore on November 20 and the 19th King's Cup World Championships at Nakorn Pathon, Thailand on December 13. Hajireen told the 'Sunday Observer' that Sri Lanka has accepted the invitations, but will only compete at the World Invitation Championships in Malaysia in September and the King's Cup in Thailand in December due to financial constrains. He further said that training had already started and those interested are requested to contact either him (Hajireen) or Afzal who is also the Training Co-ordinator. The local body has also decided to distribute Sepaktakraw balls at a nominal fee to clubs so as to promote Sepaktakraw. |
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