KUALA LUMPUR – Despite only being an exhibition sport at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, both the Malaysian men’s and women’s singles in teqball made a promising start in its debut by clinching bronze.
Malaysia’s Al Barilan Shaul Hameed won in straight sets against Philippines’ Marvin Arguilles Escamillan in the men’s match, while Siti Asnidah Zamri also won against Cambodia’s Ngoun Chanboramey in straight sets.
As the sport is featured as an exhibition sport this time around in Phnom Penh, the two bronze medals collected will not be included in the country’s overall medal tally.
“However, we are very happy with the performances displayed by our athletes, and we are looking forward to start working on developing the sport much further once we head back,” said Siva Kumar Jakarathan, president of Malaysian Teqball Association.
Only three categories for teqball were introduced at the sport’s debut at the SEA Games, namely the men’s and women’s singles, and men’s doubles.
Siva admitted that the team was expecting to bag silver for all three categories contested, especially after their promising outing at the pre-SEA Games tournament held two weeks before the Games began, where Malaysia bagged five silver medals from five different categories.
At the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand, teqball will be included as a medal tally sport and will feature five categories in total. The two additional categories are the women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
“We would like to thank everyone that has supported us throughout this fearless campaign.
“Special thanks to DBKL and the Hungarian Embassy in KL for their continuous support and backing, as well as to Let’s Play Performance for becoming our official kit supplier.
“We hope to have an enduring relationship with these wonderful partners,” said Siva.
In the men’s final, Cambodia’s Riem Sokphirom came from a set down to win against Indonesia’s Yoga Ardika Putra, while Singapore’s Sharifah Nur Amanina Syed Mohd Shahab won in straight sets in the final against Yunita Indria from Indonesia. – The Vibes, May 11, 2023
