Kuala Lumpur, May 17 (IANS) The Indian men’s team went down to hosts Malaysia in a Group C match but topped the Men’s Quadrant and still managed to qualify for the quarterfinals of the 2026 Sepak Takraw World Cup being played in the Malaysian capital on Sunday.

Asian Champions India went into their final league match with two wins against South Korea and Singapore, while Malaysia had suffered a shock defeat to South Korea in the previous encounter after opening the competition with a win over Singapore. But the hosts’ national quartet bounced back to win the must-win match against India by two sets to one scoreline and secured a place in the last-eight stage.

Malaysia, India and South Korea recorded two wins each and finished on the same points. But India and Malaysia advanced to the quarterfinals due to their superior overall game points tally. Overall, India finished as the group winner while Malaysia was the runner-up. India had defeated South Korea 2-1 and Singapore 2-0.

The match was played at Stadium Titiwangsa amidst a lively atmosphere with strong crowd support for the Malaysia team. However, the Indian line-up of Ram Kumar Sharma, Yunam Akash, Bobby Kumar, and Sorokhaibam Malemnganba Singh made a strong start by winning the opening set against the Malaysian team comprising Muhammad Afifuddin Mohd Razali, Muhammad Shahalril Aiman Halim, Amirul Zazwan Amir, and Aidil Aiman Azwawi.

The Indians capitalised on a service error by Aidil early in the match, which affected the Malaysian side’s momentum and claimed the first set 15-13, according to a report by local news agency Bernama.

The second set saw an intense battle as both teams traded points before Malaysia edged India 17-15 to force a deciding set, which the home side dominated to win 15-10 and sealed victory in the match.

The Malaysian captain, Amirul Zazwan, said the national squad learned from mistakes made in the opening set to bounce back strongly in the second and third sets in their mission to reach the quarterfinals.

“This was a do-or-die match for us because we had already lost to South Korea this morning, so we really wanted to win. We tried our best in the first set, but we made too many unnecessary mistakes. However, we recovered well in the second set and the tie-breaker. Alhamdulillah, tonight we managed to beat India,” he said after the match.

In another Group C match, South Korea defeated Singapore 2-0.

–IANS

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