Sepak takraw, or Sepaktakraw, also called kick volleyball, is a team sport played with a ball made of rattan or synthetic plastic between two teams of two to four players on a court resembling a badminton court. It is similar to volleyball and footvolley in its use of a rattan ball and players using only their feet, knees, shoulders, chest and head to touch the ball. Sepak Takraw is often referred to as a mixture of volleyball, due to its use of a net, and association football, as players use their feet.
Sports in Thailand play a significant role in Thai culture, with both participants and spectators engaging in a wide variety of activities. Muay Thai, a traditional martial art, is deeply ingrained in Thai history and has evolved into national sport. Aside from muay Thai, association football is the most popular sport in Thailand, followed by volleyball and badminton. There is also a diverse range of sports that are also popular throughout the country, including tennis, golf, swimming, athletics, cycling, motorsports, snooker, and sepak takraw, which is one of Thailand's two national sports along with muay Thai. Water sports such as scuba diving, kiteboarding, jet skiing, surfboarding, rafting, sea kayaking, windsurfing, wakeboarding, long boat racing, and long-tail boat racing are also popular among sports tourists and locals alike.
The International Sepaktakraw Federation, commonly known as ISTAF, is the international governing body for the sport of Sepak takraw, which was formed in 1988 with five founding member countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Myanmar, officially based in Thailand and with its secretariat in Singapore. The current President is Major General Dr. Charouck Arirachakaran of Thailand. Its main goal currently is to spread Sepak takraw into 75 different countries and ultimately make it an Olympic sport by 2026. As of April 2020, the federation consists of about 50 member national associations, mostly in Asia-Oceania, 13 of which are on provisional status.
The ISTAF World Cup is a competition organised by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) to modernise the traditional sport of Sepaktakraw. Alongside the ISTAF SuperSeries, the ISTAF World Cup is a platform to showcase the best of the sport and seeks to broaden the appeal of the sport to the international community.
The ISTAF SuperSeries was an international sepaktakraw competition organized by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) held for three editions from 2011 to 2015. The ISS was the only elite international Sepaktakraw tournament recognized by the ISTAF aside from the ISTAF World Cup and King's Cup. The current format involves a qualification phase through ISTAF World Cup, which usually takes place every four years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the tournament phase, 8 teams for men's and 6 for women's events, including the automatically qualifying host nation(s), compete for the title at venues within the host nation(s) for a week.
The debut season of the ISTAF SuperSeries commenced on 8 September 2011 to 1 July 2012 with 4 SuperSeries tournaments. The ISTAF SuperSeries is an international tournament by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) to bring the sport of Sepaktakraw to the international audience.
The 2014–15 ISTAF SuperSeries is the third season of the ISTAF SuperSeries, elite international Sepaktakraw tournament organized by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF). The competition consisted of 4 tournaments, which was held individually during 30 October 2014 to 23 November October 2015, in 4 ISTAF membership countries including; Myanmar, Malaysia, South Korea, and the final series was held in the supremacy country in such the sport, Thailand.
The 2013–14 ISTAF SuperSeries is the second season of an elite sepaktakraw international, ISTAF SuperSeries, organized by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF). The top-ranking national teams to vie for ISTAF World ranking points over 4 SuperSeries tournaments. Building on the inaugural success of the 2011–12 ISTAF SuperSeries, the ISTAF is looking to expand the global appeal of sepaktakraw with this season.
The Philippines men's national sepak takraw team represents the Philippines in international sepak takraw matches and competitions and is organized by the Philippine Amateur Sepak Takraw Association.
ISTAF World Cup, is an indoor international sepak takraw competition conducted by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF), contested by men's and women's national teams. The first championships started in 2011 in Malaysian Kuala Lumpur and 23 male and 13 female teams took part in it. The competition takes place regularly every four years. In 2015, the next edition is scheduled, which was postponed due to the Southeast Asian Games. It was not until 2017 in Hyderabad (India) that the second edition took place. All the tournaments have been won by Thailand.
The Sepak Takraw League, often referred as STL, is a Malaysian men's professional league for sepak takraw, a sport native to Southeast Asia. The competition was established in 2014 by Sepak Takraw Association of Malaysia (STAM) and Astro Group’s subsidiary, Asia Sports Ventures, to develop the sport and groom players for the Malaysia men's national sepak takraw team. Since 2016, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation between a top division called STL Premier and a second division called STL Division 1. A cup competition called STL Champions Cup was introduced in 2017, featuring the top teams from STL Premier and STL Division 1 as well as invitational sides from around Asia. All competitions under the league use the official International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) rules and regulation.
The 2022 King's Cup Sepaktakraw World Championship was the 35th edition of the international sepak takraw tournament King's Cup World Championship, co-organized by the Takraw Association of Thailand and the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF), held on 24 - 31 July 2022 at Fashion Island Sports World in Bangkok, Thailand. Twenty-three ISTAF member countries, mostly from Asia-Oceania, participated in the tournament.
The 2019 King's Cup Sepaktakraw World Championship is the 34th edition of the sepak takraw's premier tournament King's Cup World Championship, organized by the Takraw Association of Thailand and the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF), during August 25 – September 1, 2019, at Fashion Island, Bangkok. Thirty-one ISTAF's member countries with a total of more than 500 players participated in the tournament, which featured both men and women categories. The tournament was live broadcast from August 27 to September 1 on Mono 29, Mono Max, and Mono Plus, the satellite television channels in Thailand.
The 2017 ISTAF World Cup is the second edition of the ISTAF World Cup, which was conducted by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF). The competition was originally scheduled to be held in 2015 in Goa, India. However, due to a possible clash of dates with the 2015 King's Cup Sepaktakraw World Championship and the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, the tournament was later rescheduled and moved the venue to Hyderabad with the support of the India Sports Council. The event was organised at G. M. C. Balayogi Indoor Stadium of Hyderabad, during 2–5 November 2017. Twenty-six national teams from 17 ISTAF membership countries participated, with only three countries outside Asia, named Brazil, France, and Germany. Brunei, Belgium, United Kingdom, South Korea, and the Philippines were early expected to join the competition but unfortunately absent for undisclosed reasons, while Indonesia and Pakistan national team withdrew on the first day of the event.
The Takraw Association of Thailand is the national governing body for sepaktakraw in Thailand, officially found on 17 April 1983. The roles of the TAT include organizing sepaktakraw competitions in Thailand, supporting and co-ordinating sepaktakraw clubs, and managing the Thai sepaktakraw teams, organizing the domestic tournaments, Takraw Thailand League as well as the most prestigious sepaktakraw international tournament, King's Cup Sepaktakraw World Championship, which was held every year. Furthermore, in cooperation with the sepaktakraw association of Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore, the TAT also created the standardize rules and regulations for sepaktakraw to promote and develop its growth at the international level.
The Sepaktakraw Association of Malaysia, is the national governing body for sepaktakraw in Malaysia, officially found on 28 January 1960 in Penang, responsible for organising the national Sepak Takraw League, which was held annually since its establishment in 2014, as well as supporting and co-ordinating its state affiliations.
The Sepak Takraw Association of Indonesia, is the national governing body for sepaktakraw in Indonesia, officially found in 1971 with four founding regional affiliations, and had been becoming a member of the National Sports Committee of Indonesia (KONI) since 1979. Originally, PSTI officially registered under the title ‘Persatuan Sepak Raga Seluruh Indonesia’ (PERSERAS), however, after the inception of the Asian Sepaktakraw Federation in 1982, which the PERSERAS was considered one of the founding members, the organization was renamed to ‘Persatuan Sepak Takraw Seluruh Indonesia’ (PERSETASI) and lastly, as known today, ‘Persatuan Sepak Takraw Indonesia’ (PSTI).
The French Association of Sepak Takraw is the national governing body for sepaktakraw in France, founded in 2003 by Patrick Laemmel and Franck Michel in the city of Schiltigheim, and subsequently gained the membership status from the Federation of European Sepak Takraw Associations (FESTA) and the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) in 2008. The association is responsible for organized its annual tournaments, l'Open de France and the European Sepaktakraw Championship, which was established in 2003, co-ordinating the domestic sepaktakraw clubs, as well as a selection of players for the international competitions.
The STL Premier or Sepak Takraw League Premier, is the top level of the Sepak Takraw League, the Malaysian men's professional league for sepak takraw, a sport native to Southeast Asia. Contested by 10 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Sepak Takraw League. Originally founded in 2014 as a single league season, the league system underwent another major revamp by introducing a promotion and relegation system after 2015 season. The new format was well-received, with the viewership of STL hitting a new record of 5.6 million viewers in the 2016 season, improving from 4.8 million viewers a year earlier. All competitions under the league use the official International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) rules and regulation.
The 2022 ISTAF World Cup was the third edition of the ISTAF World Cup, held from November 25-29, 2022, at the Daejeon Hanbat Sports Complex in Daejeon, South Korea. The tournament was conducted by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) in collaboration with the South Korea Sepak Takraw Association and the Daejeon Metropolitan Sports Association. Originally, the event was scheduled to be held in October 2019 in Goa, India, but was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the venue was also relocated to Daejeon, South Korea.
