M’sia Eye Thai King’s Cup After SEA Games, World Cup, Asian Games Successes

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- Having tasted success at the SEA Games, World Cup and Asian Games, the national sepak takraw squad are now setting their sights on another prestigious title that has eluded them - the Thai King’s Cup.

Malaysian Sepaktakraw Federation (PSM) president Mohd Sumali Reduan said winning the tournament was among his main missions for next year as he looks to complete the national squad’s impressive run of achievements on the international stage.

He said Malaysia would aim to win at least one title, whether in the team regu, regu or quadrant events, and did not rule out the possibility of targeting more than one.

“That is another mission I have yet to accomplish - winning the Thai King’s Cup. My mission next year is to try to win gold or emerge as champions at the Thai King’s Cup.

“Whether it is the team regu, regu, quadrant or even all of them, those are among the targets I am trying to achieve,” he told Bernama recently.

Mohd Sumali said that although Malaysia had yet to win the Thai King’s Cup, their victories over Thailand on home soil at the 2025 SEA Games in Bangkok had gone some way towards easing the disappointment.

He said the victories in the men’s team regu and men’s regu events at the Games also showed that Malaysia had what it took to beat their traditional rivals in Thailand.

“We have already won two events, the regu and team regu, in Thailand, although not at the Thai King’s Cup. That has eased our disappointment somewhat. We have yet to win the Thai King’s Cup, but we have made history by beating Thailand on their home soil at the SEA Games,” he said.

The national team made an impressive impact at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand, winning two gold medals in the men’s team regu and men’s regu events.

Malaysia continued their winning momentum by capturing the men’s team regu title at the 2026 Sepak Takraw World Cup in Kuala Lumpur last May.

Malaysia then achieved another historic milestone at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in Japan recently, ending a 36-year wait to reclaim the gold medal in the men’s team regu event.

The national team last won the Thai King’s Cup in 1988, when they triumphed in the team regu event.

In this year’s edition, the national squad, coached by Ahmad Jais Baharun, once again had to settle for second place after losing 0-2 to Thailand in the final in Bangkok in August.

-- BERNAMA