Sepak takraw is far more intense than its nickname "foot volleyball" suggests
Explosive kicks, dead-stop blocks and nets that unexpectedly ensnare like spiderwebs — sepak takraw matches have elicited gasps from amazed audiences at the 19th Asiad.
The sport is popular in Southeast Asian nations such as Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore and Malaysia -its country of origin — but remains little known outside of them.
However, the Hangzhou Games are providing a platform to expand its profile throughout the continent and, to some extent, even globally.
Players use their feet, ankles and knees to keep a rattan ball airborne and kick it over a net that bisects the court in an attempt to force the other team of two or three players to knock it out of bounds, earning the sport the nickname "foot volleyball". Directly translated from Malay, sepak means "kick" and takraw means "ball".
It's a technically and physically demanding sport that often requires players to kick with their feet at shoulder height or higher.
Sepak takraw can be traced to the 11th century, but largely took shape in the area around sultanate-ruled Malacca in the 15th century. That's when it developed from the leisurely activity of sepakraga, in which people would stand in a circle and keep a rage (rattan ball) off the ground as long as possible using only their heads and feet. At this time, it was very much like Western hacky sack -played with round, cloth bags filled with beads — or Chinese jianzi, which uses a weighted shuttlecock.
The introduction of competitive volleyball-like rules captured greater attention, especially following a demo match staged in Penang, Malaysia, in 1945.
Official rules were announced in 1960, after which the sport was introduced to the Southeast Asian Games. It was featured in the Asian Games as an exhibition sport in 1982 and as an official competition event at the 11th Asiad in Beijing in 1990.
Sepak takraw demands an extremely high level of coordination among team members.
For instance, every serve requires two players to work together because the position and height at which the ball is tossed to the server directly determines its quality.
Similarly, teammates need to pass the ball to the most optimal position for the striker to attack, and the best opportunities often present themselves in a split second.
Traditionally, teammates hold hands and swing their arms in unison after every round, no matter how well or poorly they've just played.
One of the Republic of Korea's women's team captains, 33-year-old "feeder" Lee Min-ju, underlined the importance of teamwork in the sport after ROK's 2-0 semifinal victory over Indonesia on Thursday: "I think the key was our unity — one team, one by one. This is the result of our focus and concentration."
After Thailand took gold with a 2-0 victory over traditional rival Malaysia in the men's team final on Friday, 31-year-old feeder Pichet Pansan, said: "You see us now, and it looks easy, right? But you must start by kicking the ball 1,000 times a day. And if you want to spike, you must start doing it from a very early age, train a lot and be fearless."
His teammate, fellow feeder and co-captain, Pattarapong Yupadee, agreed.
"The secret of being a champion or playing well is to dedicate a lot of time," the 39-year-old said.
"I give my best on the court. I don't think about whether I win or I lose, but I take into account every little detail of my performance at every point, in every set. I hope that this sport will spread throughout the world and that every continent will play it."
Thailand striker Sittipong Khamchan, 30, said: "I hope that foreign players can also come to play in Thailand in the future, so they can see what we do in Thailand. Together, we can all improve the standard of players and ultimately make the sport better."
