Sri Lankans stopped in the quarters

By Lal Gunesekera

SEPAKTAKRAW: Sri Lanka did not fare too well at the inaugural South East Asian Beach and Indoor Sepaktakraw Championships in Indonesia as well as at the World Cup King's Championships in Bangkok, Thailand where they succumbed in the quarter-finals.

The Lankans did well to reach the quarter-final stages in both Rogu and Double events in beach Sepaktakraw which was a novel experiences for the Lankans. It was a good effort in the Island of Bengkalis as the Lankans were pitted against the top Asian teams like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea.

At the indoor tournament staged in the Sports Stadium of Bengkalis the Lankans lost to Singapore in the quarter-finals of both the Rogu and Double events.

The President of the Amateur Sepaktakraw Association of Sri Lanka (ASASL) Nizam Hajireen, who was the Chef-de-Mission of the Sri Lanka team (he is also a senior Vice-President of the Asian Sepaktakraw Federation), was honoured when he was requested to give the closing ceremony speech.

Then at the World Cup King's Sepaktakraw Championships in Bangkok, Thailand where over 600 players and officials from 23 countries participated, Sri Lanka, were drawn into the same group as India, Singapore, Iran and Laos in the Double event and were eliminated in the "quarters" due to injuries of two key players during the first-round matches.

Sri Lanka were represented by Nizam Hajireen at the Congress of the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) and by Council members of the ASASL, Ruwan Kumara and Kasun Thiwanka. It was attended by delegates from 28 countries.

Sri Lanka's team to Indonesia and Thailand comprised Miss E. Karunananda (Manager), D. Priyakantha, A. T. P. Rajasooriya, M. F. Khan, M. R. Jumar, T. M. Abdul and M. A. Ahamath.