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Asian Games 2018: India win first-ever sepak takraw bronze

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Aug 21, 2018, 05:26 PM IST
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India's Sepak Takraw team. (Source: @Media_SAI) Photograph:(Twitter)

History has been created as India won a medal in sepak takraw for the first time in the Asian Games.

However, the men's regu team lost to defending champion Thailand.

Sepak takraw is a game which is wildly popular in southeast Asia, this gravity-defying form of "foot volleyball" has become an Asian Games smash-hit since it was first introduced in 1990 and is largely dominated by Thailand.

An explosive sport in which players acrobatically contort their bodies to launch a rattan ball over a net using their feet, head or chest with the sort of skill that would make Lionel Messi proud.

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The Indian men's regu team lost to Thailand 0-2 but picked up a bronze as both the losing semifinalists are also awarded a medal.

India had defeated Iran 21-16, 19-21, 21- 17 in the first match to make a winning start to their campaign.

India, however, lost to Indonesia 0-3 in the second Preliminary Group B match of the day but still advanced to the last-four stage and be guaranteed of at least a bronze.