The King's Cup Sepak Takraw Championship is a sepak takraw team event which is considered to be the most prestigious tournament in the sport as most top national teams compete in this annual event. The King's Cup is dedicated to His Majesty the

King of Thailand The monarchy of Thailand is the constitutional monarchy, constitutional form of government of Thailand (formerly ''Siam''). The king of Thailand (, historically, ''king of Siam''; ) is the head of state and head of the ruling Chakri dynasty. ...

. Three regus form a team and winning point is achieved once a team has the majority of two regu victories out of the three regus.

History

In 1985, the first King's Cup tournament was held in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

where

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

emerged as the inaugural champions. Malaysia became champions again in 1988, and the rest of the other editions saw Thailand as champions. The King's Cup tournament is seen by some, especially the Malaysians, as being unfair because it is never held outside of Thailand; hence, critics believe that the host nation is given an obvious upper hand and that the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

are a fairer ground of competition. 25th King's Cup Sepaktakraw World Championship was held in the 700th Anniversary Stadium from July 27 to August 1, 2010, with 23 competition teams. And 26th King's Cup Sepaktakraw World Championship was held in Fasionisland on 12–17 September 2011 with 23 competition teams in 8 tournaments.

Championships

In 1965, the Asian Sepaktakraw Federation ( ASTAF) was formed to govern the sport in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, then in 1992 the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) was formed as the world governing body for the sport. Men's championship was started in 1992 and for women was in 2005.

References

{{International sepak takraw Sepak takraw competitions Sports competitions in Thailand * Recurring sporting events established in 1985 1985 establishments in Thailand

History

Championships

See also

References