00:00 We created the Takraw sport, but outsiders are performing better than us.
00:04 In the 1960s, Malaysia was the world's number one sport.
00:12 Suddenly, we've reached this day.
00:17 In addition, this sport will be included in the Olympics.
00:20 If we don't take action now,
00:22 the sport will be left behind.
00:24 There are too many challenges.
00:27 My passion is getting weaker.
00:30 I want to prove that even though I'm 20,
00:36 I can compete with the seniors.
00:39 Like Leng Jinn, Farhana Adam, Shairoz Din.
00:41 I want to be better than them.
00:42 I want to create history that others can't.
00:44 That's my hope.
00:56 Ridwan Hakim has been playing sepak takraw since the age of 12.
01:00 I watched my seniors play,
01:03 Farhana Adam, Amirul Zazwan,
01:06 when I was young.
01:08 I watched them on YouTube.
01:09 I watched them play and my passion was to reach the top.
01:13 When we talk about sepak takraw,
01:16 people say it's a village sport.
01:18 To me, sepak takraw is a unique sport.
01:21 It's an art form.
01:26 Sepak takraw is a heritage.
01:28 It's a part of the local culture.
01:31 Even the sultans played sepak takraw.
01:35 When my father created sepak takraw,
01:38 it originated in the Penang Island farmers' market.
01:41 It was around the 1940s.
01:44 The history of sepak takraw can be traced back hundreds of years,
01:46 but it was Abdul Hamid Maidin
01:48 who is recognized in Malaysia as the founder of the modern game.
01:51 In the beginning, one individual fought another.
01:55 He found it uninteresting.
01:57 So he suggested three against three.
02:00 It's called antara regu.
02:02 In antara regu, there are two teams of three.
02:05 Each has a feeder, a killer and a server.
02:07 Players must use their bodies, but not their hands,
02:09 to pass the rattan ball over the net.
02:11 Each ball earns points for the opposing team,
02:13 and the first team to reach 21 points wins the set.
02:16 The first team to win two sets wins the match.
02:18 Although, it was recently announced
02:20 that the game will return to a 15-point system.
02:24 In the 1960s and 1980s,
02:26 sepak takraw was a very interesting and exciting sport
02:28 because it was a national sport.
02:31 But now, all players can compete for national titles.
02:34 For example, this player is competing for the team of Johor.
02:37 Next month, if there is another tournament,
02:39 he can represent Perak.
02:41 We will see the same players
02:43 competing in different sports.
02:45 Interest in sepak takraw dipped in the 90s,
02:47 and Zahary believes this lack of recognizable teams
02:50 is one reason why.
02:51 But it's not the only reason.
02:54 If we look at the sepak takraw culture in Malaysia,
02:58 the level of the competition is not as high as that of sepak takraw.
03:06 So, it gives the players a little bit of a desire
03:10 to move professionally in the sepak takraw.
03:14 It is indeed a hope, not me,
03:17 but maybe all sepak takraw players in Malaysia
03:21 hope that sepak takraw will become a professional sport.
03:25 So, it is indeed focused on sepak takraw.
03:28 There are too many challenges.
03:30 The main challenge is that now I have a family
03:34 and have children.
03:35 I have to share my commitment in terms of family,
03:39 my success and also my work.
03:42 Although national players receive an allowance,
03:45 Farhan has to juggle training and games
03:47 with his day job as an administrative assistant.
03:50 In terms of allowance, we can only use it for our daily life.
03:54 Maybe in terms of non-employed players,
03:57 only sepak takraw players,
03:58 they get an allowance like that,
03:59 how do they want to buy a house,
04:01 how do they want to buy a car?
04:02 The most important thing is the support from the family.
04:07 Support from my wife who gives me the words of encouragement.
04:12 In addition to my own mother,
04:14 who always works with the Association of Malaysian Sepak Takraw and MSN,
04:21 always gives me the freedom to represent the country.
04:25 To get the gold medal,
04:29 we need to show a much better performance than before.
04:33 Because we realize that the competition of the sepak takraw team itself
04:36 will come from main countries such as Thailand,
04:40 Korea, Indonesia, India,
04:41 which they are now preparing a team to go to the Asian Games.
04:45 The impact when we get the gold medal in the Asian Games is very big.
04:50 It will give a greater opportunity to players,
04:54 the sepak takraw team players,
04:56 the players of the association itself,
04:58 to develop more.
04:59 Because the opportunity to be in a higher position will be open.
05:04 For example, players will get the opportunity to become
05:07 a sponsor of various items such as the one before.
05:10 It is true that it has been obtained from the sepak takraw players in particular.
05:15 Over the past 10 years, interest in the game has grown
05:18 thanks to the creation of the Televise Sepak Takraw League or STL.
05:22 In terms of viewers or ratings,
05:24 the number of viewers who watch the STL competition
05:27 on social media or on television has increased year after year.
05:32 And this gives a sign that there are still many
05:36 players out there who support the sepak takraw league itself.
05:40 Playing STL matches is where Red One was spotted
05:44 and invited to train with a thai club.
05:46 Yes, Malaysia's biggest sepak takraw rivals.
05:49 When I went there, I wanted to learn how they could be champions.
05:52 Who are they? What do they do in their daily lives?
05:54 For example, wake up in the morning, discipline.
05:57 What kind of vape do they smoke?
05:58 We lost there.
06:00 Their spirit is really, they deserve to win.
06:03 That made me proud.
06:06 So I learned a lot there.
06:09 With different groups lobbying to make sepak takraw an Olympic sport,
06:12 Malaysia is focusing on new talent.
06:15 For 2024, the National Sports Council and Sepak Takraw Union
06:19 have agreed that half of the national team should be players under 21.
06:24 This is a big step, a big role
06:27 for us to train players to train and compete abroad.
06:31 It's a great experience.
06:33 Actually, the best opportunity for every player at this time is bigger.
06:38 Even though they are in a rather small area,
06:40 but some players can take bigger initiatives
06:45 such as networking, finding suitable training places.
06:50 Because usually, talent scouting will go to places
06:54 that are thought to have a relatively large potential.
06:57 So from there, we will be able to see the true skills of the players themselves
07:01 so that we can make a choice.
07:03 If they really have potential,
07:05 there is nothing impossible for the players we call in the national team program.
07:11 The country must be prosperous.
07:14 Like badminton, like hockey, the country must be prosperous.
07:18 When the country is prosperous,
07:20 the kids who watch the players, the Malaysian hockey players,
07:23 their spirit is also high.
07:25 If we are popular, we are strong.
07:28 We are famous in the world. The fans must be interested in badminton.
07:31 And this role must be played by everyone,
07:34 from the top to the bottom.
07:38 Only then can the Takraw team be popular again.
07:40 We are still holding the Takraw.
07:45 Besides Thailand, our ranking is only number two.
07:48 We have never fallen to number three or four.
07:50 Because the Takraw never stops.
07:52 We are still on tour, so there are still new ones.
07:54 Until we beat Thailand.
07:57 If possible, I want the Malaysian people to have a high opinion of the Takraw team.
08:01 I want to create a history that is remembered by all Malaysian people.
08:05 Even if I die, people will know that I have created history.
08:11 I want to create a history that others have not created.
08:14 I want to create a history that others have not created.
08:16 I want to create a history that others have not created.
08:18 I want to create a history that others have not created.
08:20 I want to create a history that others have not created.
08:23 I want to create a history that others have not created.
08:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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