KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 ― The host of the 31st SEA Games, Vietnam is expected to put up stiff challenges in both the men and women categories in the sepak takraw event at the biennial games.

Malaysian Sepak Takraw Association (PSM) president Datuk Seri Ahmad Ismail said it was due to the fact that while the Vietnamese women’s squad was one of medal contenders alongside Thailand, the country's men's squad was also showing improvement to become the main challenger to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

“It is understood that about eight events have been proposed to be held in Hanoi, next year. Events such as team regu, regu, team double, team quadrant, quadrant, hoop and mixed events will be contested, but there is no confirmation yet (while chinlone is also appealing to be included).

“At the last SEA Games, our women's team was able to give fierce competition to Vietnam before losing due to their own mistakes. But we must not underestimate the Vietnamese men’s team, especially when their country is hosting. It is understood that even during COVID-19, they trained daily,” he told Bernama.

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At the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, Malaysia took home two silver medals from the men’s regu and team regu and bronze from women’s regu, while at the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia won two gold, three silver and six bronze medals from 12 events.

Commenting on the preparations for the 2021 SEA Games and the 2022 Asian Games in China, Ahmad said PSM would determine the targets and would plan more closely after analysing the level of strengths and weaknesses of the national squad compared with the opposing teams.

“We need at least one international tournament to enable us to make evaluation as the tournaments and training have been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the tournament, our technical director (Abdul Talib Ahmad) and the coaches will be responsible for formulating strategies and improving the weaknesses,” he said.

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He also said for the first time, PSM will set up a women's B (as backup team) in January 2021 in an effort to improve player performance. ― Bernama