KUALA LUMPUR, (MARCH 5, 2013): Tekong Izurin Refin’s inspired play took centre stage in Malaysia’s 15-5, 15-8 defeat of Singapore in their opening Group B match in the ISTAF SuperSeries FINALS 2013/14 at the Titiwangsa Indoor Stadium here today.

The 23-year-old rattled off three aces in his first service and, taking advantage of some sloppy play from the Singaporeans, led ISTAF SuperSeries debutant feeder Muqlis Borhan and seasoned striker Hanafiah Dolah to an easy 15-5 win in their first set.

With his side racing to a 6-1 lead in the second, national coach Jamaluddin Hassan brought in new tekong Syahir Rosdi midway through and saw his faith repaid when the 18-year old put on a similar service display as Izurin.

“We won because our service was good and Singapore’s was not, especially in the first set,” said Jamaluddin.  “They also made a lot of errors, but I’m pleased with our overall game today and satisfied with the way Syahir played.”

The Malaysian women’s team emulated their male counterparts by defeating Japan 15-8, 15-10 in their opening Group C match. The Japanese, who earlier beat India 2-1, lost the first set tamely and put up a fight early on in the second but fizzled out towards the end.

Malaysia’s Hanafiah Dolah blocks Singapore’s Hafiz Nor Izam spike in the ISTAF SuperSeries FINALS 2013/14 men’s first group match.

The ISTAF SuperSeries FINALS 2013/14 is organised by Persatuan Sepaktakraw Malaysia and supported by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF). The ISTAF SuperSeries platform was created by Asia Sports Ventures, ISTAF’s exclusive global commercial and developmental partner.

The ISTAF SuperSeries FINALS 2013/14 will be televised on ASTRO Arena, ASTRO SuperSports and SuperSports HD (all in High Definition) and RTM. Selected matches including the men’s quarter-finals, third-fourth placing match and both men’s and women’s finals are to be aired live.

The tournament will also be telecast to 70 countries worldwide.

ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 kicked off with ISTAF SuperSeries India in New Delhi (August

29-September 1), followed by ISTAF SuperSeries Thailand in Bangkok (September 26-29) and ISTAF SuperSeries Malaysia in Sabah (October 30-November 3).

All results (March 5, Day 1)

Men’s competition

Group A: India bt Germany 2-1 (15-10, 13-15, 15-8), Thailand bt India 2-0 (15-8, 15-6)

Group B:  Malaysia bt Singapore 2-0 (15-5, 15-8), Singapore bt France 2-0 (15-4, 15-8)

Group C: Indonesia bt USA 2-0 (15-3, 15-6)

Group D: Brunei bt Japan 2-0 (15-18, 15-8), Iran bt China 2-0 (16-14, 15-10)

Women’s competition

Group A: Thailand bt China 2-0 (15-7, 15-5), Thailand bt Indonesia 2-0 (15-6, 15-9)

Group B: Vietnam bt Myanmar 2-0 (15-13, 15-10)

Group C: Japan bt India 2-1 (10-15, 15-7, 16-14) Malaysia bt Japan 2-0 (15-8, 15-10)

More information on ISTAF SuperSeries

Alongside the ISTAF World Cup, the elite, internationally-recognised ISTAF SuperSeries is the only sepaktakraw tournament acknowledged by ISTAF and therefore plays a key role in deciding the official ISTAF World Rankings.

Released by Shekhinah PR on behalf of Asia Sports Ventures.

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Christopher Raj

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Aiman

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