Malaysia booked their place in the semi-finals of the 2026 Sepak Takraw World Cup after defeating the Philippines 2-0 in the quarter-final clash at Stadium Titiwangsa on Monday night.
The victory sees the squad coached by Ahmad Jais Baharun set up a semi-final showdown against Myanmar, who earlier overcame India 2-0 in another quarter-final fixture.
Malaysia’s regu, consisting of Mohammad Syahir Mohd Rosdi as tekong, Farhan Adam as feeder, and Mohamad Azlan Alias as striker, showed little difficulty maintaining the momentum from their Group A triumph earlier in the day.
The national side comfortably secured the opening set 15-9 before continuing their dominant display in the second set.
Malaysia successfully shut down any hopes of a comeback from the Philippine regu represented by Ronsited Gabayeron, Glindel Phori and Vince Alysson Torno, cruising to a convincing 15-5 win to seal the match in straight sets.
Despite the strong performance, Ahmad Jais admitted there are still areas that require improvement ahead of the semi-final, particularly involving the consistency of the team’s serves.
“If you look at the match earlier, perhaps aspects such as the toss and timing during service execution still need refining so that the tempo can be improved.
“At the very least, we want to reduce unnecessary mistakes during the match,” he said after the game.
Malaysia’s impressive run has further boosted hopes of capturing the world title on home soil, with supporters expected to pack Stadium Titiwangsa for the crucial semi-final encounter against Myanmar.
