2013–14 ISTAF SuperSeries

The ISTAF SuperSeries is an international Sepak takraw event, where elite national teams to vie for ISTAF World ranking points over 4 SuperSeries tournaments. Building on the inaugural success of the ISTAF SuperSeries 2011/12, the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) is looking to expand the global appeal of Sepaktakraw with this second season.

ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 opened on 29 August 2013 to 1 September 2013, the first in a region outside South East Asia. The first SuperSeries of the season was held in New Delhi, India followed by ISTAF SuperSeries THAILAND 2013/14 in Bangkok (Sept 26-29), and the third leg, ISTAF SuperSeries MALAYSIA 2013/14 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (31 Oct to Nov 3), before concluding with the ISTAF SuperSeries FINALS 2013/14 held in Kuala Lumpur.

The overall winner for the ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 season for both Men’s and Women’s is Thailand. In the Men’s competition, ranking points were extremely tight with the first place being decided in the Finals where Thailand played well under pressure and leaving Malaysia with second place. As Japan participated in all four leg of this tournaments, their accumulated points led to the third spot. For the Women’s competition, Thailand was the clear cut winner with a perfect 1000 points scored from their first placing in all 4 legs of ISS. Vietnam took second place with Malaysia just 10 points behind to take third.

ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 Summary

EditionISTAF SuperSeries
(Men)		ISTAF SuperSeries
(Women)
Participating Nations
(Men)		 Gold
(Men)		 Silver
(Men)		 Bronze
(Men)		 Participating Nations
(Women)		 Gold
(Women)		 Silver
(Women)		 Bronze
(Women)
ISS India10 South Korea Malaysia Indonesia7 Thailand Indonesia Vietnam
ISS Thailand11 Thailand Malaysia USA7 Thailand South Korea Vietnam
ISS Sabah9 Thailand Malaysia Indonesia5 Thailand Vietnam Indonesia
ISS Finals Kuala Lumpur13 Thailand Malaysia South Korea9 Thailand Malaysia Indonesia

ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/2014 Medals Tally

ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/2014 Medals Tally
(Men)
Rank Teams Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Thailand3--3
2 South Korea1-12
3 Malaysia-4-4
4 Indonesia--22
5 USA--11
ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/2014 Medals Tally
(Women)
Rank Teams Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Thailand4--4
2 Vietnam-123
3 Indonesia-123
4 Malaysia-1-1
5 South Korea-1-1

ISS India, New Delhi

The first leg of the ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 season kicked off in the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi, India from 29 August 2013 to 1 September 2013. This is the first ISTAF SuperSeries tournament held outside South East Asia, demonstrating ISTAF’s vision of its global promotion of the sport.[1]

ISTAF SuperSeries India 2013/14 was held over 4 days which brought 12 nations together and a total of 17 teams participating in this elite sepaktakraw tournament. The shocker in this ISS was the Quarter-Finals round between second placed Korea from Group C and first placed Thailand from Group A.

Korea knocked out Thailand in 3 straights sets to proceed on to the Semi Finals stage, and unfortunately for Thailand who could only content with a fifth-placed finish.

Host India was given a pass into the quarter finals where they defeated Iran but missed out on the making it to the Finals after being edged out by Malaysia in the Semi Finals stage.[2] Malaysia then went on to meet with Korea, who proved to be worthy winners of the ISS India leg of the season despite losing their opening group match.

India Women’s team faced a tougher route as they were seeded fourth and were edged out by Vietnam and Indonesia in the group stages. The Women’s finals was contested by Thailand and Indonesia who topped their group in the earlier round robin matches, leaving Vietnam and Malaysia to fight for third.

For the first time, Sepaktakraw was broadcast to over 1.4 billion television audiences throughout the Indian sub-continent through a landmark partnership between Asia Sports Ventures and Doordarshan.[3]

Men’s Draw

The first round, or Group Stage saw 10 Men’s teams dividing into 2 group of 3 and 2 groups of 2. Teams competed in a round robin match format where groups with 3 teams played all other teams once and groups with 2 teams played each other twice.

Based on points accumulated, the top 2 teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals, or Playoff stage. The host nation, India, advance automatically to the Playoff Stage.

Women's Draw

The first round, or Group Stage, saw 7 women's teams divided into 2 groups, one group having 3 teams and the other having 4. Each group featured a round robin of games, with each team playing against every other team in their group once.

Based on points accumulated, the top 2 teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals, or Playoff Stage.

Participating Countries

Participating Countries (Men)
Host
 India
Group A Group B Group C Group D
 Thailand Malaysia Indonesia India
 Japan Iran South Korea Singapore
- USA Brunei-
Participating Countries (Women)
Host
 India
Group A Group B
 Indonesia Thailand
 Vietnam Malaysia
 South Korea Japan
 India-

Men's Results

Group A (Men)

Group A
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Thailand2206
2 Japan2020
 Thailand3-0 Japan
 Japan0-3 Thailand

Group B (Men)

Group B
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Malaysia2206
2 Iran2113
3 USA2021
 Malaysia3-0 USA
 USA1-3 Iran
 Iran0-3 Malaysia

Group C (Men)

Group C
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Indonesia2206
2 South Korea2114
3 Brunei2020
 South Korea3-0 Brunei
 Brunei0-3 Indonesia
 Indonesia3-1 South Korea

Group D (Men)

Group D
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 India2206
2 Singapore2022
 India3-2 Singapore
 Singapore0-3 India

Knock-out Rounds (Men)

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
31 Aug
 
 
  Singapore 0
 
31 Aug
 
  Myanmar 3
 
  Malaysia 3
 
31 Aug
 
  India 1
 
  Iran 1
 
1 Sep
 
  India 3
 
  Malaysia 0
 
31 Aug
 
  South Korea 3
 
  Japan 0
 
31 Aug
 
  Indonesia 3
 
  Indonesia 0
 
31 Aug
 
  South Korea 3 Third place
 
  South Korea 3
 
1 Sep
 
  Thailand 0
 
  India 0
 
 
  Indonesia 3
 

Women's Results

Group A (Women)

Group A
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Indonesia3309
2 Vietnam3216
3 South Korea3123
4 India31030
 Indonesia3-0 South Korea
 India0-3 Indonesia
 Vietnam3-0 South Korea
 India0-3 Vietnam
 Vietnam0-3 Indonesia
 South Korea3-0 India

Group B (Women)

Group B
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Thailand2206
2 Malaysia2113
3 Japan2021
 Japan0-3 Thailand
 Thailand3-0 Malaysia
 Malaysia3-1 Japan

Knock-out Rounds (Women)

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
31 Aug
 
 
  Indonesia 3
 
1 Sep
 
  Malaysia 0
 
  Thailand 3
 
31 Aug
 
  Indonesia 1
 
  Thailand 3
 
 
  Vietnam 0
 
Third place
 
 
1 Sep
 
 
  Malaysia 0
 
 
  Vietnam 3

ISS Thailand

The second leg of the ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 season was staged in Fashion Island in Bangkok, Thailand from 26 to 29 September 2013.[4] It was the third time that ISTAF SuperSeries has returned to Thailand, since hosting the inaugural tournament in 2011 (ISS Thailand 2011) and the finals of the ISTAF SuperSeries 2011/12 season.

A change was made to the group stage matches where teams played to a best of three sets instead of the usual 5 sets, up to 15 points. This decision was made to benefit teams who have to play more matches in the same day to prevent wearing out the players.

With Korea creating an upset over Thailand in the previous leg, Thailand is eager to draw blood on their home ground and displayed full dominance as they put up a flawless team performance to beat Iran in less than 20mins for their opening group match.[5] They then pushed through their way to the finals without dropping a single set. Malaysia was close behind, finishing second, after an incredibly tight match against Korea in the Semi Finals.

Host Thailand Women’s team cruised to a victory over Korea in the Finals while Vietnam outlasted Malaysia in a classic ranking match between the two beaten semi-finalists.[6] In the 5th t0 7th placing matches, China defeated both India and Japan to secure extra World ranking points while India finally recorded their first win over Japan in ISTAF competition.

ISTAF SuperSeries Thailand was televised on Thailand’s leading network Channel 3.[7] Sports fans in the region got to enjoy almost eight hours of live TV coverage, as well as selected matches featuring the Thai Men’s and Women’s teams.

Men’s Draw

The first round, or Group Stage saw 11 Men’s teams dividing into 3 group of 3 and 1 group of 2. Teams competed in a round robin match format where groups with 3 teams played all other teams once and group with 2 teams played each other twice.

Based on points accumulated, the top 2 teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals, or Playoff stage.

Women's Draw

The first round, or Group Stage, saw 8 women's teams divided into 2 groups having 4 teams each. Each group featured a round robin of games, with each team playing against every other team in their group once.

Based on points accumulated, the top 2 teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals, or Playoff Stage.

Participating Countries

Participating Countries (Men)
Host
 Thailand
Group A Group B Group C Group D
 South Korea Malaysia USA Thailand
 China Japan Singapore Brunei
 India Germany- Iran
Participating Countries (Women)
Host
 Thailand
Group A Group B
 Thailand South Korea
 Vietnam Malaysia
 Japan China
 India Indonesia

Men's Results

Group A (Men)

Group A
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 South Korea2204
2 China2112
3 India2020
 South Korea2-0 China
 China2-0 India
 India0-2 South Korea

Group B (Men)

Group B
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Malaysia22012
2 Japan2112
3 Germany2020
 Malaysia2-0 Japan
 Germany0-2 Malaysia
 Japan2-0 Germany

Group C (Men)

Group C
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 USA2112
2 Singapore2112
 Singapore0-2 USA
 USA0-2 Singapore

Group D (Men)

Group D
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Thailand2204
2 Brunei2112
3 Iran2021
 Thailand2-0 Iran
 Brunei0-2 Thailand
 Iran1-2 Brunei

Knock-out Rounds (Men)

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
28 Sep
 
 
  South Korea 2
 
29 Sep
 
  Malaysia 3
 
  Malaysia 0
 
28 Sep
 
  Thailand 3
 
  USA 0
 
 
  Thailand 3
 
Third place
 
 
29 Sep
 
 
  USA -
 
 
 - -

Women's Results

Group A (Women)

Group A
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Thailand3306
2 Vietnam3214
3 Japan3122
4 India3030
 Thailand2-0 India
 Japan0-2 Vietnam
 Japan0-2 Thailand
 Vietnam2-0 India
 Thailand2-0 Vietnam
 India0-2 Japan

Group B (Women)

Group B
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 South Korea3306
2 Malaysia3214
3 China3122
4 Indonesia3030
 China2-0 Indonesia
 South Korea2-0 Malaysia
 Malaysia2-0 China
 Indonesia0-2 South Korea
 South Korea2-0 China
 Malaysia2-0 Indonesia

Knock-out Rounds (Women)

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
28 Sep
 
 
  Thailand 3
 
29 Sep
 
  Malaysia 0
 
  Thailand 3
 
28 Sep
 
  South Korea 0
 
  South Korea 3
 
 
  Vietnam 1
 
Third place
 
 
29 Sep
 
 
  Vietnam 3
 
 
  Malaysia 2

ISS Malaysia, Sabah

The third round of the ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 season was held in Likas stadium in Sabah, Malaysia from 31 October to 3 November 2013.

Heading into this third leg, Host Malaysia find themselves on top of the ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 season rankings, having finished second in the earlier two legs. They are joined by 8 other countries in the Men’s Divisions. In the Women’s division, there was a total of 5 teams joining this leg of the tournament after Korea failed to appear at ISS Sabah 2013/14.

Host Malaysia faced a scare in the Quarter final match against neighbours Singapore but managed to turn their rhythm around with the substitution of their striker, Hanafiah Dollah. Malaysia then proceeded to take down Japan in the semi finals in three straight sets and met with Thailand in the finals, who won their Semi finals match against Indonesia. Malaysia took down the first two sets in the finals[8] but Thailand came back strong with the substitution of their server. Tanawat Chumsena took over the serving circle from first choice server Rattadech Noijaroen. Eventually, Thailand proved to be too strong for the hosts, causing Malaysia to ultimately fail in their quest to clinch a win before thousands of home fans.[9]

The Women’s group stage matches saw host Malaysia cruising through to the Quarter Finals after Korea failed to turn up. Unfortunately for the host, Malaysia finished second behind Vietnam and went on to meet Thailand, who topped group B, in the semi-finals. At the end of the day, it was Thailand who emerged victorious against Vietnam, experimenting with a two strikers formation at the net.

ISTAF SuperSeries Malaysia 2013/14 was televised on ASTRO Arena, providing eight hours of live TV coverage to sports fans around the region, including selected matches featuring the Malaysia National teams.

This leg of the tournament also saw the introduction of the Ultra Slow Motion cameras which raised the level of Television production for the ISTAF SuperSeries tournament. Fans were able to watch Ultra Slow Mo playback of the Sepaktakraw action in High Definition which greatly enhanced the viewer experience.[10]

Men’s Draw

The first round, or Group Stage saw 9 Men’s teams dividing into 2 groups with 4 teams in Group A and 5 teams in Group B. Teams competed in a round robin match format where each team plays against every other team once.

Based on points accumulated, the top 2 teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals, or Playoff stage.

Women's Draw

The first round, or Group Stage, saw 5 women's teams with Group A having 2 teams and Group B having 3 teams. Teams play in a round robin format with the two teams in Group A playing each other twice.

Based on points accumulated, the top 2 teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals, or Playoff Stage.

Participating Countries

Participating Countries (Men)
Host
 Malaysia
Group A Group B
 Malaysia Thailand
 Indonesia Japan
 India Singapore
 Iran Brunei
- Germany
Participating Countries (Women)
Host
 Malaysia
Group A Group B
 Vietnam Thailand
 Malaysia Indonesia
- Japan

Men's Results

Group A (Men)

Group A
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Malaysia3306
2 Indonesia3215
3 India3122
4 Iran3031
 Malaysia2-0 Iran
 Indonesia2-0 India
 Iran0-2 Indonesia
 India0-2 Malaysia
 Iran1-2 India
 Malaysia2-1 Indonesia

Group B (Men)

Group B
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Thailand4408
2 Japan4316
3 Singapore4225
4 Brunei4134
5 Germany4042
 Thailand2-0 Japan
 Brunei1-2 Singapore
 Germany0-2 Thailand
 Japan2-1 Brunei
 Singapore2-1 Germany
 Brunei0-2 Thailand
 Singapore1-2 Japan
 Germany0-2 Brunei
 Thailand2-0 Singapore
 Japan2-1 Germany

Knock-out Rounds (Men)

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
2 Nov
 
 
  Malaysia 2
 
3 Nov
 
  Singapore 1
 
  Malaysia 3
 
2 Nov
 
  Japan 1
 
  Japan 2
 
3 Nov
 
  India 1
 
  Thailand 3
 
2 Nov
 
  Malaysia 2
 
  Indonesia 2
 
3 Nov
 
  Indonesia 0
 
  Indonesia 0
 
2 Nov
 
  Thailand 3 Third place
 
  Thailand 2
 
3 Nov
 
  Iran 0
 
  Japan 0
 
 
  Indonesia 3
 

Women's Results

Group A (Women)

Group A
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Vietnam2204
2 Malaysia2022
 Malaysia1-2 Vietnam
 Vietnam2-1 Malaysia

Group B (Women)

Group B
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Thailand2204
2 Indonesia2112
 Thailand2-0 Japan
 Japan0-2 Indonesia
 Indonesia0-2 Thailand

Knock-out Rounds (Women)

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
2 Nov
 
 
  Thailand 3
 
3 Nov
 
  Malaysia 0
 
  Thailand 3
 
2 Nov
 
  Vietnam 0
 
  Vietnam 3
 
 
  Indonesia 0
 
Third place
 
 
3 Nov
 
 
  Malaysia 0
 
 
  Indonesia 2

ISS Finals Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The finals of the ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 season was held at the Tittiwangsa Stadium in Kuala Lumpur from 5 to 9 March 2014.[11]

With such a strong crowd support for Sepaktakraw in Malaysia as seen in the Sabah leg of the tournament, ISTAF decided to hold the finals of the ISS 2013/14 in the capital of Malaysia this time round. Malaysia and Thailand, the two great powerhouses of Sepaktakraw enter into the finals being on level in their ISS ranking points.[12] There was a total of 22 teams, 9 Women’s and 13 Men’s including the introduction of a wild card team, France, after a solid performance in the inaugural ISTAF World Cup 2011.

The Men’s finals match of the ISS KL Finals proved to be a repeat of the ISS Sabah leg, setting the stage for an explosive tussle for Gold between Malaysia and Thailand. At the end of the day, it was Thailand who emerged overall champion despite Malaysia having home ground advantage. Korea returned to the ISTAF SuperSeries tournament after their missing out on the previous ISS Sabah leg, and finished off the season with a satisfactory third place in ISS KL Finals.

In the Women’s competition, Malaysia entered the Finals for the first time in ISTAF SuperSeries history under the lead of their star striker Rahilah Binti Harun and delighting the home crowd. They came up against Thailand in the Finals, who has retained the title since the start of the ISTAF SuperSeries tournaments. Although it was a step up for the host, Thailand still proved to be a class above and clinched Gold for the 8th consecutive time. In the 3rd/4th placement match, Indonesia finished their ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 journey with a well-deserved and hard-won Bronze in the ISS KL finals against Myanmar.

Men’s Draw

The first round, or Group Stage saw 13 Men’s teams dividing into 3 groups with 3 teams and 1 group with 4 teams. Teams competed in a round robin match format where each team plays against every other team once.

Based on points accumulated, the top 2 teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

Women's Draw

The ISS KL Finals saw 9 women's teams with 3 groups having 3 teams each playing in a round robin format in the Group Stage.

Based on points accumulated, the top teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals, or Playoff Stage. The second placed teams from the 3 groups then undergo a second round stage playing in a round robin format to determine the last team to join in the semi-finals.

Participating Countries

Participating Countries (Men)
Host
 Malaysia
Group A Group B Group C Group D
 Thailand Malaysia South Korea Japan
 India Singapore Indonesia Brunei
 Germany France USA China
--- Iran
Participating Countries (Women)
Host
 Malaysia
Group A Group B Group C
 Thailand Myanmar Malaysia
 Indonesia Vietnam Japan
 China South Korea India

Men's Results

Group A (Men)

Group A
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Thailand2204
2 India2112
3 Germany2021
 India2-1 Germany
 Thailand2-0 India
 Germany0-2 Thailand

Group B (Men)

Group B
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Malaysia2204
2 Singapore2112
3 France2020
 Singapore2-0 France
 Malaysia2-0 Singapore
 France0-2 Malaysia

Group C (Men)

Group C
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 South Korea2204
2 Indonesia2112
3 USA2021
 Indonesia2-0 USA
 USA1-2 South Korea
 South Korea2-0 Indonesia

Group D (Men)

Group D
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Japan3214
2 Brunei3215
3 China3123
4 Iran3122
 Japan0-2 Brunei
 China0-2 Iran
 Brunei1-2 China
 Iran0-2 Japan
 Brunei2-0 Iran
 China1-2 Japan

Knock-out Rounds (Men)

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
8 Mar
 
 
  Thailand 2
 
9 Mar
 
  Indonesia 0
 
  Thailand 3
 
8 Mar
 
  South Korea 1
 
  South Korea 2
 
9 Mar
 
  India 0
 
  Malaysia 0
 
8 Mar
 
  Thailand 3
 
  Malaysia 2
 
9 Mar
 
  Japan 0
 
  Malaysia 3
 
8 Mar
 
  Brunei 0 Third place
 
  Brunei 2
 
9 Mar
 
  Singapore 0
 
  South Korea 3
 
 
  Brunei 0
 

Women's Results

Group A (Women)

Group A
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Thailand2204
2 Indonesia2112
3 China2020
 China0-2 Thailand
 Thailand2-0 Indonesia
 Indonesia2-0 China

Group B (Women)

Group B
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Myanmar2112
2 Vietnam2112
3 South Korea2112
 Vietnam2-0 Thailand
 Myanmar2-0 South Korea
 South Korea2-0 Vietnam

Group C (Women)

Group C
Rank Country Games
played		 Win Lost Pts
1 Malaysia2204
2 Japan2112
3 India2021
 Japan2-1 India
 Malaysia2-0 Japan
 India0-2 Malaysia

Knock-out Rounds (Women)

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
8 Mar
 
 
  Malaysia 3
 
9 Mar
 
  Myanmar 0
 
  Thailand 3
 
8 Mar
 
  Malaysia 0
 
  Thailand 3
 
 
  Indonesia 0
 
Third place
 
 
9 Mar
 
 
  Myanmar 2
 
 
  Indonesia 3

References

  1. ↑ http://article.wn.com/view/2013/08/24/India_all_set_to_host_Sepaktakraw_s/
  2. ↑ http://www.sportskeeda.com/sepak-takraw/india-beat-iran-reach-semis-of-istaf-superseries-india
  3. ↑ http://www.indiansportsnews.com/hot-picks/31743-sepaktakraw-mens-team-assured-of-the-quarter-finals-women-face-a-tougher-route
  4. ↑ http://www.thephuketnews.com/hosts-aiming-to-reassert-their-superiority-in-front-of-home-fans-as-istaf-superseries-thailand-2013-14-kicks-off-42093.php
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  6. ↑ http://www.sportskeeda.com/sepak-takraw/istaf-superseries-201314-thailand-to-meet-malaysia-vietnam-plays-korea-in-semi-finals
  7. ↑ http://www.shekhinah.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=183:end-of-the-road-for-women&catid=38:newsroom&Itemid=159
  8. ↑ http://philippinetimesofsouthernnevada.com/photo-gallery/stunner-in-sabah/
  9. ↑ http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/72948%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D
  10. ↑ http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=87019
  11. ↑ http://www.bulletpin.net/sports/istaf-superseries-finals-201314/
  12. ↑ http://www.sepaktakraw.org/sepaktakdrew-mens-rankings-can-malaysia-dethrone-thailand/
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