KUALA LUMPUR: As expected, Malaysia advanced to the quarter-finals of the team event in style after defeating Japan 3-0 in the final match of Group C at the 2024 Sepak Takraw World Cup held at Titiwangsa Stadium last night.
This second victory follows their earlier triumph over Brunei 3-0 yesterday, propelling the national squad under the guidance of Ahmad Jais Baharun to the top of the group, with Japan securing the runner-up position after overcoming Brunei 2-1 in the morning session today.
Malaysia will face India, the runner-up of Group B, in the quarter-finals tomorrow in their quest to clinch the championship and achieve a hat-trick of victories after winning the double and team events by defeating world sepak takraw giants, Thailand, last Wednesday.
Against Japan tonight, the Malaysian team secured the first point through the trio of Amirul Zazwan Amir, Muhammad Haziq Hairul Nizam and Muhammad Noraizat Mohd Nordin, who defeated Ikki Mito, Daishi Tamaki, and Yota Ichikawa 15-13, 15-4.
After emerging champions in the inter-regu event, Farhan Adam, Mohammad Syahir Mohd Rosdi and Mohamad Azlan Alias then dominated their opponents Ryota Haruhara, Wataru Narawa and Toshitaka Naito 15-5, 15-5 to secure the second point.
The positive momentum continued as the regu of Aidil Aiman Azwawi, Muhammad Zarif Marican Ibrahim Marican and Muhammad Shahalril Aiman Halim easily defeated the trio of Kento Nakamura, Masaki Sasamoto, and Yuki Sato 15-5, 15-7.
“We are grateful for the second victory and qualifying for the quarter-finals, so we will try to deliver a better performance than tonight. We take every team we face in the group stage or quarter-finals seriously because we don’t want the players to become too complacent.
“I hope the players continue to focus in every match to ensure that our team’s performance is at its best. Looking at the lineup of players we have assembled, it is a team that we have matched from the training phase,” said Ahmad Jais after the match.
Meanwhile, Thailand, the champion of Group B, will face Japan, the runner-up of Group C, in the quarter-finals, while Indonesia, the champion of Group A, will meet Myanmar, the runner-up of Group D.
The other quarter-final action will see the champion of Group D, South Korea, facing the runner-up of Group A, Vietnam.
