TRAILING: Preparations for Sea Games take a hit after national side lose to Myanmar
THE national sepak takraw team's preparations for the Myanmar Sea Games suffered a major setback after they were comfortably beaten by Myanmar in the final of the Four Nations Championships at the National Sports Complex in Keramat yesterday.Myanmar, who had earlier lost 2-1 to Malaysia in the round robin phase of the team-format tournament, landed the opening blow in the final when their first regu of Yar Zar Tun, Thant Zin Oo and Si Thu Lin easily despatched Tunku Noor Azwari Tunku Ishak, Mohd Kamal Alfiza Shafie and Farhan Adam 15-11, 15-10.
Malaysia, however, levelled the tie when Ahmad Aizat Mohd Nor Azmi, Mohd Hanafiah Dolah and Mohd Syafiq Ab Rahman notched a 15-8, 16-14 win over Htoo Aung Kyaw, Aung Pyae Tun and Wai Lin Aung in the second match.
But it was not to be for Malaysia as the Sea Games hosts managed to regain their composure in the final match.
Phone Khaing, Zaki Zaki Aung and Kyaki Soe Win paid no attention to the jeers from the home crowd as they powered to a straightforward 15-11, 15-10 win over Nazirul Akmal Rahman, Mohd Muqlis Borhan and Muhammad Syahmi Husin to seal a best-of-three victory.
Unbeaten prior to the decider, Malaysia had finished in top spot in the round-robin competition with Myanmar placing second. Their top-two finish saw them qualify for the final.
Malaysia's earlier matches during the competition -- which was held from 10.30pm to 2am throughout last week due to the fasting month -- saw them beat Sumatera (Indonesian club) 2-1, Singapore 3-0, Myanmar 2-1 and Malaysia 'B' 2-1.
Malaysia 'B' finished third after they beat Sumatra 2-1 in the playoff, also held yesterday.
National coach Jamaluddin Hassan blamed the loss on experimenting with new combinations as well as the absence of a number of senior players currently on attachment programmes with Thai clubs.
"We had expected Myanmar to come back strongly in the final and considered a win to be a bonus for us," said Jamaluddin, who coached Malaysia to their last Sea Games medal in 2005.
"They had sent their elite squad here and their first and third regu both consisted of highly experienced players.
"We had been trying out new combinations and it showed in the final. The fact that we had been missing a number of key players also did not help.
"We are clearly not yet up to the mark and will have to work hard before the Sea Games. I believe there is still time.
"It is better for us to lose here rather than win and then go on to fail in Myanmar at the end of the year."
Among the players missing from the squad were 2011 Sepak Takraw Association of Malaysia player of the year Norsharuddin Mad Ghani, Mohd Khairol Zaman Hamir Akhbar, both killers, as well as tekongs Izurin Refin and the highly talented but volatile Zulkifli Abd Razak.
The quartet are currently playing in the Thai national league. Norsharuddin and Izurin are attached to Kalasin while Mohd Khairol Zaman and Zulkifli are competing with Nakhon Pathom.
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