Kerala   

One game, many tricks

— Photo: S.R.K.

Game masters: Sepak Takraw players practising.

Is it football? Is it volleyball? Or is it gymnastics? No, it is sepak takraw, a game that requires the skills of all these sports and more. Kozhikode got its first taste on Monday, when an exhibition match between Tamil Nadu and Orissa was staged at the V.K. Krishna Menon Indoor Stadium. “On Sunday, the two teams played a match at Kunnamangalam and the response was very encouraging,” says A.K. Mohammed Ashraf, secretary, Kerala State Sepak Takraw Association, which organised the event.

“Our objective is to make the sport popular in the State. And we hope to field a Kerala team soon. We are planning to send a State team for a forthcoming national event in Bangalore.”

Sepak takraw, a competitive sport at the Asian Games, is already played in some States like Manipur, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Ashraf is confident that it would become popular in Kerala. “At Kunnamangalam, we fielded a Kerala team and an international sepak takraw official said our players had the potential to do well in this game,” he says.

The game can be defined as volleyball played with legs (smashes included) between two sides of three players each.

Players are allowed to head the ball too. It has a history of over 500 years and is popular in Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Myanmar, Philippines and Indonesia.

P.K. Ajith Kumar

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