Page 52 - Active Skills for Reading Intro Book

Sports Today World Sports

Sports like soccer, baseball, and basketball are popular all over the world. Many
countries also have their own national sports. These traditional games are often
hundreds-or even thousands-of years old. Here is one example.

Sepak Takraw

5 Malaysia's national sport is sepak takraw
(sepak means kick, and takraw means

woven ball). This fast-moving game is like
1
both soccer and volleyball.

8 In sepak takraw, players move the ball like
10 they do in soccer and volleyball. T w o teams

(of three players each) compete by hitting
a small ball across a net (like they do in
volleyball). Players can use their heads,
feet, shoulders, or knees to pass the ball to ·

15 the other team. But like in soccer games,
players cannot use their hands.

Playing sepak takraw is a little like playing
tennis, too. Like a tennis match, there are
2
three sets in a game. If one team drops the
20 ball, the other team gets a point. The first
team to get 15 points wins a set. The winner of two sets wins the whole game.

The sport of sepak takraw is more than 1,00Q years old.
Originally, the native Malays played it. Later, the sport spread

to other countries in Asia, including Thailand, Indonesia, and the
25 Philippines. Today, it is one of the most popular sports. played in
. ..
the Asian Games. There are also sepak takraw clubs in North
America and Europe.

1 Something that is woven is made like a basket with fibers crossing over and under each other.
2 A set is a part of a game.

Sepak Takraw 51