Saiful Rual (Bottom) of Indonesia competes during the men's doubles final match of 2019 Asian Sepaktakraw Championships between Indonesia and Malaysia in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 14, 2019. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)
KUNMING, China, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian beat Malaysia 2-0, winning the men's doubles championship of 2019 Asian Sepak Takraw Championship on Friday.
Indonesia defeated Vietnam in the semi-final, while the Malaysia beat Japan. As traditional strong teams in Sepak Takraw, they started with a fierce battle at the beginning of the final. However, the Indonesian team played to their strengths as more defensive unit and has maintained a narrow lead.
After the score rose to 21, the Indonesian team seized the chance to score 2 consecutive points and won the first game at 23-21.
In the second game, the Indonesian team quickly took the advantage and stretched out a lead to beat the Malaysians 21-16, winning the men's doubles title of the tournament.
"The strategy of two teams is very similar, and we had confidence to win." the head coach of Indonesian team Tri Aji said.
The Malaysian team had Indonesia under significant pressure for large parts of the game with the scores frequently tied. But Tri Aji was not worried, "I told our players to unite and chase one point after the other one. To win the game, we must have skill, strategy and confidence."
