NEW POINT SYSTEM WILL PREVENT DOMINATION BY ONE COUNTRY - PSM

KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Bernama) -- The new point-system in sepaktakraw was

introduced to break the domination by any one country whilst giving equal

opportunities to all countries to master the sport.

The Sepaktakraw Association of Malaysia (PSM) president Datuk Ahmad Ismail

said the new regulation will be used in the inaugural International Sepaktakraw

Federation (Istaf) World Cup 2011 championship which will be held at the

Titiwangsa Stadium here from tomorrow to Sunday.

"The new point-system is more open and is hoped to prevent any countries

from dominating the match solely through service.

"In the old point system, I''ve seen the ''tekong'' or server solely grab up

to 14th points ...so under the new regulation, the tekong will be limited to

make three consecutive services before handing over the service to their

opponent," he told reporters, here today.

Ahmad earlier received sponsorship from several companies, for the Istaf

Sepaktakraw World Cup 2011 Championship, that offers overall prize money of

RM150,000.

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SPORTS-SEPAKTAKRAW 2 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR

The inaugural tournament has attracted 24 men''s and 12 women''s team from 24

countries and among them are Australia, China, Taiwan, Germany, Iran, India,

Indonesia, United States, Oman, France and South Korea.

Elaborating the new point-system, Ahmad said for the Regu format, where

teams play best of 5 sets, the team that wins three sets will be declared the

winner.

Each set is played over 15 points.

He said the new regulation would hopefully commercialize the sport as the

changes not only involve the point-system but a total revamp of Sepaktakraw.

For instance he said Istaf also introduced the newly designed red-courts

with extended exclusion zones, alongside nets, net-posts, umpire chairs and

ball.

Ahmad said after the Kuala Lumpur championship, Istaf will host the

inaugural Istaf Super Series 2011/2012, a line-up of five international

tournaments featuring the top sepaktakraw nations and held in Thailand,

Malaysia, Vietnam, Iran and China.

-- BERNAMA

SFA ZAS HK JRL