Sukma: Sarawak women’s sepak takraw team off to strong start

BINTULU (Aug 18) The Sarawak women’s team started strong in the women’s quadrant sepak takraw event at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) XXI 2024, securing a 2-0 victory over Kedah in the preliminary round at Muhibah Stadium.

The quadrant event, which involves four players per team, saw Sarawak fielding two right apit players, Anisclen Sophillia Siam Saliman and Jeremiah Josiah Rolland, with Victoria Dibah Engkau as the left apit and Willcemina Lengi Au Anjan as the tekong.

Kedah, on the other hand, paired two tekong players, Nursaidatul Ridwana Saifulazli and Nisha Adilla Md Hadzir, with Nur Amni Najihah Norazle as the right apit and Izzatul Fatini Mohd Sobri as the left apit.

With the advantage of their two right apit players, Sarawak easily won the match with scores of 15-4 and 15-5, and will proceed to face other state teams in the next rounds.

The preliminary round of the women’s quadrant event also saw Selangor defeating Kelantan 2-1, Sabah winning 2-0 against Perak, Perak winning 2-0 against Selangor, and Sabah winning 2-0 against Kelantan.

However, the Sarawak men’s quadrant team lost 0-2 to Penang in the first round, trailing with scores of 9-15 and 3-15 in straight sets.

In other matches, Johor defeated Melaka 2-0 with scores of 15-11 and 15-13, while Sabah won against Perak 2-0 with scores of 15-3 and 15-13.

Meanwhile, Sabah’s women’s team remains spirited for the upcoming matches as Terengganu withdrew from the preliminary round of the doubles event.

Sabah women’s team coach, Faizan Ibrahim said that Sabah gained an easy victory as Terengganu withdrew from the doubles event yesterday.

“Our match was supposed to be against Terengganu, but they withdrew, giving Sabah the win for the first round of the doubles group stage,” he added.

Faizan said this was a blessing for the team, giving the players time to rest and prepare for the next matches.

“We will also compete in the quadrant event,” he added.

Several events are also taking place today for both men’s and women’s quadrant. In Group C of the men’s quadrant, Terengganu won 2-0 against Brunei Darussalam, and Pahang won 2-0 against Sabah.

Additionally, the men’s and women’s doubles events are ongoing, with the women’s doubles team from the Federal Territory winning 2-0 against Penang, and Perlis winning 2-0 against Terengganu.

In the men’s doubles, Perlis won 2-0 against Brunei, and Melaka won 2-0 against Penang.