KUALA LUMPUR, The four-day 2024 Asian Beach Sepak Takraw Championships, scheduled to be held in Qingdao, Shandong, China from Friday, was nearly cancelled after the area around the venue was hit by Typhoon Pulasan. Asian Sepak Takraw Federation (ASTAF) president Datuk Abdul Halim Kader said the official opening ceremony of the eight-team championships, scheduled for 7.30 pm local time, has been postponed by one day. He said the beach area, where the courts are, was hit by the Sept 17 typhoon. "The Qingdao government said that Typhoon Pulasan might lash the port city again and warned that sea level could rise to two metres tomorrow (Sept 19). "For the safety of the players and officials, ASTAF initially considered cancelling the championships. However, after assessing the main court, which was not affected, and the fact that several teams had arrived earlier to acclimatise to the conditions, we decided to postpone the opening ceremony,' he said in a statement today. Abdul Halim, also the International Se pak Takraw Federation (ISTAF) secretary-general, said the opening ceremony time would remain at 7.30 pm, followed by the first men's regu match between Thailand and South Korea at 8 pm. Abdul Halim, also the championships technical director, added that they would continue monitoring the weather conditions and also take appropriate precautionary measures. "If the weather worsens and endangers the safety of the players, officials and spectators, ASTAF and the organisers will not hesitate to cancel the championships,' he said. Hoss China, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Iraq and the Philippines are competing in the championships in two events - regu (men's and women's) and trios (men's). Source: BERNAMA News Agency