Malaysia's takraw boys blank Japan in Asian Games opener

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia opened their men's team regu campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with a 3-0 win over hosts Japan in their Group B opener today.

The national squad wrapped up the tie at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Gymnasium in two hours and 19 minutes.

The first regu set the tone for Malaysia, overcoming a spirited Japanese challenge 15-11, 15-11.

Malaysia's second regu proved even more dominant, cruising to a 15-6, 15-8 victory to seal the overall tie.

Japan mounted a fightback in the third match, edging the opening game 15-13.

However, Malaysia's third regu quickly regained control to take the next two games 15-5, 15-6 and complete the sweep.

Malaysia face the Philippines in their second Group B match tomorrow at 9am Malaysian time.

They wrap up preliminary round fixtures against India on Tuesday.

The top two teams in the group will advance to the semi-finals.

The national squad arrived in Japan aiming to end an Asian Games title drought after settling for silver at the previous two editions.

At Hangzhou 2022 and Jakarta-Palembang 2018, Malaysia reached the final before losing to Thailand.

Malaysia's only gold medal in the event came 36 years ago at Beijing 1990, when sepaktakraw made its Asian Games debut.