Takraw For Dum'me'

Being close to Syam brought to me to somewhere I never thought I would ever, ever be. 

First, he made me play Clash of Clans, which at first I thought, was a waste of time, but it turned out to be good distraction from work.

Then, he made me helped him with his Takraw Team, which is a game of sport I never knew a single rule of, but later I found it very technically interesting.

Now, he made me wear three quarter pants, when managing the Takraw Team during Sukan PBT, which was totally againts my unwritten rules of clothing. "NO THREE QUARTER PANTS!" but it turned out to be comfortable.

Syamsul Istar...

Sepak Takraw. If I turned into a TV Channel with that on it, I would spend not even a single second, before I turned into another channel. I never knew the game. When I was in school, there was no one playing that game, even during Pendidikan Jasmani, no takraw. The first time I watched Takraw was 2 years back during DPA, and that is simply because I felt that I need to cheer for our team, and still, I never tried to understand the game.

So now, with Syam managing our Ministry's Takraw Team, which we called Libas SUK Perak, and myself, co-managing, I feel obligated to get to know the game well. Takkan nak terkebil-kebil tengok game tak paham mende when you are the manager of the team. So not cool. 

Ok, let's learn a little bit about the game.

1. What is the meaning of 'Takraw' and where does it came from? 

Takraw in Thai, is a woven ball. So with it's name of Sepak Takraw, I believe the game, obviously is from Southeast Asia, either in Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia.

2. How many players in the court at a time?

There are 3 players per team. They are called Tekong, Feeder and Killer, depends on their position. 

Tekong is the one who will serve the ball to the opponent, either sending the ball straight to the opponent with high speed or serving a drop ball. 

Killer is the striker of the team, executing the ball to the opponents. Killer is also responsible to block any incoming ball from the opponent. 

Feeder is one who controls the ball, if the team manage to get the first ball right from the opponent. Feeder will then set the ball to the killer to strike back to the opponent, and that makes him important so that the Killer could perform a clean strike.

3. The attire of the players?

I never knew attire is so important until Sukan PBT. Well, according to the international rules, the number on the jersey of each player must only be between 1 to 15. Players must wear the same number on each game to avoid confusion of actual players. The captain of the team must also wear an armband.

4. Warming Up. 

Each team will be given 2 minutes before the game starts for warming up.

5. Explain the service?

I only got to know this after watching a couple of training sessions. Players of the serving regu will alternate as Tekong each time it has won a point from the previous serve until the receiving team manages to get a point. 

6. How many points needed to win the game?

21 points are required for a team to win a set, and there will be 2 sets, minimum. If it comes to a tie after 2 sets, then the third set will be the deciding set. Like badminton, the winning team needs 2 extra point to win.

7. How many time break given per team?

Well, time break will be requested by the manager of the team, and one time off is given to each team per set. Only 5 persons, max, is allowed at the back of the court during time off. But in the international rule, only 4 persons are allowed, and that is after the 8th points.

8. How many substitution allowed?

For each set, a team is allowed to nominated 1 reserved player, and make 2 substitutions per set.

So now, you are ready to co-manage!

I will post something on our journey to Sukan PBT next....

#libassukperak