HANGZHOU: The national sepak takraw squad will be going all out to defend its gold medal in the inter-regu competition, which begins at the Hangzhou Asian Games tomorrow.
National coach Ahmad Jais Baharun announced the line-up of players he has selected for the event today and expressed his confidence in their abilities.
The five are — tekong Syahir Rosdi and Zarif Marican Ibrahim Marican, killers Afifuddin Mohd Razali and Azlan Alias, and feeder Amirul Zazwan Amir.
"These players were selected based on their current form, their chemistry as a regu, experience, and other relevant elements," said Jais.
"They have been training together for the past few days to improve their performances and also work on their weaknesses.
"They are fully focused on the task at hand."
The inter-regu competition will be tougher this time as traditional heavyweights Thailand will also be competing. Thailand did not compete in the event when Malaysia won the gold during the 2018 Indonesia games.
The national squad will open its campaign at the Jinhua Gymnasium tomorrow against Vietnam in the morning followed by Singapore in the afternoon.
Malaysia has won one silver at this edition of the Asian Games through the men's team event. They lost 2-0 to Thailand in the final last week.