Kunming to host 2019 Asian Sepaktakraw Championship

The 2019 Asian Sepaktakraw Championship will be held in Kunming, Yunnan Province in the coming June, according to news released at a launch ceremony on February 26.

Sepaktakraw lovers from 22 countries including ASEAN member states, Japan and South Korea, as well as athletes from the regions of Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei, will gather in Kunming for the sports event. 

As a game popular in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and others, Sepaktakraw is also a traditional pastime for people in the border areas of Dehong and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan. 

"I hope this championship will make the ball game more popular in China," said Abdul Halim Bin Kader, president of the Asian Sepaktakraw Federation (ASTAF).

The 2019 Asian Sepaktakraw Championship is hosted by Asian Sepaktakraw Federation, General Administration of Sports of China, China Sepaktakraw Association, Yunnan Provincial Sports Bureau and Kunming Municipal Government.

Reporting by Lou Ying; trans-editing by Wang Shixue