The ISTAF SuperSeries (abbreviated: ISS) 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.[1][2] 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.[3]

ISTAF SuperSeries
Official logo of the Games
StatusInactive
GenreSport event
FrequencyAnnually
Inaugurated8 September 2011 (2011-09-08)
FounderInternational Sepaktakraw Federation
Most recent2 November 2015 (2015-11-02)
Organised byInternational Sepaktakraw Federation
Websitesepaktakraw.org

The tournament was held in a grand prix format, whereby national teams compete in a series of tournaments during a season. The first season features four tournaments which were organized between September 2011 to July 2012 in Bangkok, Palembang, and Singapore. The second and the third seasons also consisted of four tournaments, in which Thailand has won most of the first place in both men's and women's tournaments.[4]

There was an attempt from the ISTAF to conduct the fourth season within 2016. Nonetheless, the tournament was terminated for undisclosed reasons.

ISTAF SuperSeries Summary

edit
Season Series Host Men's tournament Women's tournament
Team Gold Silver Bronze Team Gold Silver Bronze
2011–12 1   Bangkok 12   Thailand   Indonesia   South Korea 8   Thailand   South Korea   Vietnam
2   Palembang 9   Thailand   Malaysia   Indonesia 6   Thailand   South Korea   Vietnam
3   Singapore 10   Thailand   Indonesia   South Korea 6   Thailand   Vietnam   Indonesia
4   Bangkok 12   Thailand   Malaysia   South Korea 7   Thailand   Vietnam   Malaysia
Overall 43   Thailand   Indonesia   Malaysia 27   Thailand   Vietnam   South Korea
2013–14 1   New Delhi 10   South Korea   Malaysia   Indonesia 7   Thailand   Indonesia   Vietnam
2   Bangkok 11   Thailand   Malaysia   United States 7   Thailand   South Korea   Vietnam
3   Kota Kinabalu 9   Thailand   Malaysia   Indonesia 5   Thailand   Vietnam   Indonesia
4   Kuala Lumpur 13   Thailand   Malaysia   South Korea 9   Thailand   Malaysia   Indonesia
Overall 43   Thailand   South Korea   Malaysia 28   Thailand   Vietnam   Indonesia
2014–15 1   Naypyidaw 8   Thailand   Malaysia   Myanmar 6   Thailand   Vietnam   Myanmar
2   Melaka 8   Malaysia   Thailand   South Korea 6   Thailand   Vietnam   Myanmar
3   Gunsan 8   Thailand   South Korea   Malaysia 6   Thailand   South Korea   Indonesia
4   Nakhon Pathom 8   Thailand   Malaysia   Philippines 6   Thailand   Myanmar   South Korea
Overall 32   Thailand   Malaysia   South Korea 24   Thailand   Vietnam   Myanmar

Tournament Format

edit

Matches are played using a best of three formats, where teams compete to win two sets. Once one team wins two sets, the remaining sets (if any) are discarded. If any team wins the first two sets, it wins the match, and the remaining one set is not played.[5]

The first round, or group stage, features 8 men's and 6 women's teams, respectively divided into groups of 4 and 3; each team playing a round-robin against every other team in their group. Based on points accumulated, the top 2 teams from each group advanced to the playoff stage, which featured two rounds of matches, each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round; namely the semifinal and final rounds. In addition, there was also a play-off to decide the fifth to eighth placings.[5]

Regu format
  • Each team is represented by three players on the court, with two additional substitutes.
  • The three players on the court are divided into three specialist positions including; the ‘tekong’ who serves the ball; the ‘feeder’ who sets the ball up and facilitates the attack; the ‘killer’ or striker, who spikes the ball set by the feeder.
  • The players can swap positions throughout the match.
Group format
  • Teams were awarded points based on the number of sets they won, as opposed to the traditional group scoring based on wins and losses.
  • This system was devised to bolster competitive spirit, rewarding teams for every set they won, regardless of whether they won the match.
  • If there two or more teams are even on points at the end of the group stage, individual points earned during the group stage matches will be used as a tie-breaker.

Set Format

  • Each set is won by the side which scores twenty-one (21) points with a minimum lead of two (2) points.
  • In the event of a twenty to twenty tie (20-20), the set shall be won by the side which gets a lead of two (2) points, or when a side reaches twenty-five (25) points (whichever occurs first).
  • When the score is tied at 20-20, the Match Referee will announce "setting up to 25 points".
  • During the third set, the teams shall change sides when one Regu reaches 11 points.

Tournament ranking

edit
Ranking index[6]
Position Points
1st Place 250
2nd Place 230
3rd Place 210
4th Place 200
5th Place 190
6th Place 180
7th Place 170
8th Place 160
N Place Point of N+1 Place -10
Men's ranking[6]
Position Country Accumulation points
1.   Thailand 980
2.   Malaysia 920
3.   Myanmar
  Singapore
  South Korea
770
6.   Japan 710
7.   Indonesia 560
8.   China 490
9.   Philippines 210
10.   India 180
Rangking Updated: 26 October 2015
Women's ranking[6]
Position Country Accumulation points
1.   Thailand 1000
2.   Vietnam 860
3.   Malaysia 760
4.   Japan 720
5.   Myanmar 650
6.   South Korea 640
7.   Indonesia 410
Rangking Updated: 26 October 2015

Note: The ranking is only measured from the latest tournament, not the all-time ranking.

Medal Tally

edit
Men's tournament
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Thailand101011
2  Malaysia18110
3  South Korea1157
4  Indonesia0235
5  Myanmar0011
  Philippines0011
  United States0011
Totals (7 entries)12121236
Women's tournament
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Thailand120012
2  Vietnam0549
3  South Korea0415
4  Indonesia0145
5  Myanmar0123
6  Malaysia0112
Totals (6 entries)12121236

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Intentions to expand the ISTAF SuperSeries in Season Two". Sports Business Insider. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  2. ^ "In the know". Philippine Daily Inquirer. June 25, 2017. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  3. ^ "Glossra". Deutscher Sepaktakraw Verband (in German). 2015. Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  4. ^ "Malaysia set up epic ISTAF SuperSeries final with Thailand". New Straits Times. October 22, 2015. Archived from the original on December 26, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Tournament Format". International Sepaktakraw Federation. 2015. Archived from the original on November 7, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Standing". International Sepaktakraw Federation. 2015. Archived from the original on November 7, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
edit