Kuala Lumpur: Fifteen countries, including world champions Thailand, have confirmed their participation in the 2025 Asia Cup Sepaktakraw Championships at the Titiwangsa Stadium here in May.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Sepak Takraw Association of Malaysia (PSM) president Datuk Mohd Sumali Reduan announced the other countries confirmed for the inaugural edition of the Asia Cup. These nations are Malaysia, India, Singapore, Brunei, Iraq, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

“Yesterday, we held a meeting on the 2025 Asia Cup with several ASTAF (Asian Sepaktakraw Federation) executive council members to decide on certain matters, including team participation. We finalized the 15 teams and, as everyone knows, the Asia Cup will have four events – regu (mandatory), doubles, quadrant, and team,” he stated during a media conference.

Mohd Sumali noted that the tournament will feature nine teams in the quadrant event, seven in doubles, and eight in the team event. Additionally, the PSM has proposed to ASTAF and ISTAF (International Sepaktakraw Federation) the introduction of a ‘challenge’ system in international tournaments. This system would allow each team two challenges per match, and teams would retain their challenges if a referee’s decision is overturned.

“I’m proposing that a team will have two challenges remaining if a referee’s decision is proven incorrect,” he explained, highlighting discrepancies in the current system compared to sports like badminton.