Sepak takraw ends 36-year wait as Malaysia win Asian Games team regu gold

NAGOYA: Malaysia's sepak takraw squad ended a 36-year wait by winning the men's team regu gold at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, beating traditional powerhouse Thailand 2-0 in the final yesterday.

Malaysia last won the event at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, also by defeating Thailand in the final.

The first regu of Mohammad Syahir Mohd Rosdi, Farhan Adam and Mohamad Azlan Alias opened with a hard-fought three-set win, 15-9, 5-15, 15-11.

The second regu of Zulkifli Abd Razak, Muhammad Afifuddin Mohd Razali and Aidil Aiman Azwawi then sealed the gold with a straight-set 15-13, 15-10 victory.

"First of all, Alhamdulillah. What happened just now, honestly, everything we played did not come from us," Syahir said after the match, as quoted by Bernama.

Azlan admitted the clean-sheet win had exceeded the squad's own expectations.

"For myself, first of all, Alhamdulillah. We don't even know how to explain how we won 2-0," he said.

Fightback against Indonesia

The road to the final was far from easy. In the semi-final a day earlier, Malaysia fell behind after the first regu lost to Indonesia 15-10, 13-15, 13-15.

The second regu levelled the tie with a 15-10, 15-6 win before the third regu of Muhammad Zarif Marican Ibrahim Marican, Amirul Zazwan Amir and Muhammad Hafizul Hayazi Adnan won 11-15, 15-11, 15-11 to send Malaysia into the final.

The victory over Thailand was also Malaysia's second straight win over the Thais in the event at a multi-sport Games, following the 2025 SEA Games, according to Malay Mail.

The sepak takraw gold was Malaysia's fourth gold of Aichi-Nagoya 2026, after two golds in karate and one in esports.