Indian men's team reaches quarterfinals in Sepaktakraw World Super Series

Team with two Manipuris defeats Singapore for the second time in as many days

India may have been assured of a quarter-final berth at ISTAF SuperSeries INDIA 2013/14 even before their first spike, but they qualified in grand style after beating Singapore for the second time in as many days.

Coach Hemraj stayed with the same regu that on Wednesday staged the most amazing comeback in SuperSeries history, and his faith in Akash Singh (from Manipur), Sandeep Kumar and captain G Jiteshor Sharma (from Manipur) was justified when they won 15-9, 16-14, 15-9 at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi.

Although today’s match may have lacked the drama and edge-of-seat action of their first encounter, India still managed to get the crowd going, thanks to Akash and his ability to spike almost at will.

The national team coasted in the first set and looked ready to do the same in the second after taking a 4-0 lead and then extending it to 7-2, but Singapore clawed back point by point  until they drew level at 14-14. India then duly collected the two points needed to win, and never looked back in the third set.

“We played just as well today as we did in our first match, but what gave us the edge was the confidence that we had defeated Singapore just the day before,” said chief coach Hemraj, adding that he would not make changes to the team in their quarter-finals against Iran.

India and Singapore, who qualified for the quarter-final on account if being in the two-team Group D, will be joined in the quarter-final by Malaysia, Iran, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and South Korea.

ISTAF SuperSeries INDIA 2013/14, which ends September 1, kicks-off this year’s ISTAF SuperSeries 2013/14 season. The New Delhi tournament is followed by ISTAF SuperSeries THAILAND 2013/14 in Bangkok from September 26-29 followed by ISTAF SuperSeries MALAYSIA 2013/14 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from October 31 to November 3.

Held for the first time in India and the first time outside Southeast Asia, ISTAF SuperSeries is created by Asia Sports Ventures (ASV) and supported by local organisers Sepaktakraw Federation of India (STFI).

Results (Day 2):

Men’s:

Group B: Malaysia bt Iran 3-0 (15-7, 15-7, 15-9)

Group C: Indonesia bt South Korea 3-1 (15-10, 15-13, 10-15, 15-9)