Malaysia has a new mountain to climb after sepak takraw loss

It has been 16 long years since Malaysia last won a gold medal in the Asian Games sepak takraw competition. And it appears as though the Sepak Takraw Association of Malaysia (STAM) has run out of ideas on how to end the Thai supremacy.

Nothing seems to work, even with the surprise inclusion of veterans Normanizam Ahmad and Mohd Futra Abdul Ghani, the two members of the squad for the Southeast Asian Games in Manila in 2005, who broke a 12-year Thai domination in the inter-regu event.

In fact, it was a poor decision to bring the seniors to Guangzhou. They were no match for the Thais, who easily claimed the gold medal in both the men's team and regu events for a fourth consecutive time at the Asiad.