Maple Ridge – For those that made it out to the 2025 Canadian Men’s Sepak Takraw (Kick Volleyball) Championship on Saturday, Sept. 6th, hosted at the Maple Ridge Christian School, the athletes did not disappoint!
The small, but very loud and enthusiastic, crowd of 50+ spectators were amazed by the high-flying, aerial acrobatics that they witnessed in the spiking and blocking of the Takraw Ball during matches – all without hands and arms. Equally impressive was to see the many creative ways in which the ball can be spiked so power Sepak is a Malaysian word for “kick” and Takraw is a Thai word for “hand-woven ball”.
In the quarter-final matches, on Court 1 were the 2nd place Rosthern Eagles, SK vs the 3rd place Chilliwack, BC team. Rosthern’s spiker, Somrueang Ackrat, proved to be too much to handle, and they won the match in two straight sets, 15-10 and 15-9. On Court 2 were the 1st place Regina 4:13, SK team vs the 4th place Vancouver, BC team. Vancouver’s legendary back-flip spiker, Aaron Dannan, as impressive as he always is, struggled with consistency in the first set due to a bit of an injury after a long day of already playing 7 round robin matches. Although things greatly improved for him, and the team in general, by the second set to make it very close, it wasn’t enough.
Regina 4:13 won the match in two straight sets, 15-9 and 15-13. Then, due to time constraints, the semi-final and final matches then took place at the same time, with the Rosthern Eagles playing Regina 4:13 for the championship title, coveted Gold Takraw Ball Cup Trophy and gold and silver medals, while Vancouver played Chilliwack for the Bronze Medal in Court 2. The Bronze medal match went to 3 sets, with Vancouver pulling off the win after losing the first set 14-17, then winning the next two handily, 15-6 and 15-9.
Though the Gold Medal Match did not go to 3 sets, it was very tight, with both teams serving and spiking very well, trading points back and forth all the way through both sets. But in the end it was Rosthern that came out on top, winning both sets by just 2 points, 15-13 and 15-13! Congratulations goes out to all the finalists and all the players for their incredible show of sportsmanship, skill, and to the local BC organizers that worked together with Sepak Takraw Canada to put on a very successful event!