# ISTAF SuperSeries

The ISTAF SuperSeries (abbreviated: ISS) was an international sepaktakraw competition organized by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) held for three editions from 2011 to 2015. The ISS was the only elite international Sepaktakraw tournament recognized by the ISTAF aside from the ISTAF World Cup and King's Cup. The current format involves a qualification phase through ISTAF World Cup, which usually takes place every four years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the tournament phase, 8 teams for men's and 6 for women's events, including the automatically qualifying host nation(s), compete for the title at venues within the host nation(s) for a week.
The tournament was held in a grand prix format, whereby national teams compete in a series of tournaments during a season. The first season features four tournaments which were organized between September 2011 to July 2012 in Bangkok, Palembang, and Singapore. The second and the third seasons also consisted of four tournaments, in which Thailand has won most of the first place in both men's and women's tournaments.
There was an attempt from the ISTAF to conduct the fourth season within 2016. Nonetheless, the tournament was terminated for undisclosed reasons.

## ISTAF SuperSeries Summary

| Season | Series | Host | Men's tournament | Men's tournament | Men's tournament | Men's tournament | Women's tournament | Women's tournament | Women's tournament | Women's tournament |
| Season | Series | Host | Team | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Team | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2011–12 | 1 | Bangkok | 12 | Thailand | Indonesia | South Korea | 8 | Thailand | South Korea | Vietnam |
| 2011–12 | 2 | Palembang | 9 | Thailand | Malaysia | Indonesia | 6 | Thailand | South Korea | Vietnam |
| 2011–12 | 3 | Singapore | 10 | Thailand | Indonesia | South Korea | 6 | Thailand | Vietnam | Indonesia |
| 2011–12 | 4 | Bangkok | 12 | Thailand | Malaysia | South Korea | 7 | Thailand | Vietnam | Malaysia |
| 2011–12 | Overall | Overall | 43 | Thailand | Indonesia | Malaysia | 27 | Thailand | Vietnam | South Korea |
| 2013–14 | 1 | New Delhi | 10 | South Korea | Malaysia | Indonesia | 7 | Thailand | Indonesia | Vietnam |
| 2013–14 | 2 | Bangkok | 11 | Thailand | Malaysia | United States | 7 | Thailand | South Korea | Vietnam |
| 2013–14 | 3 | Kota Kinabalu | 9 | Thailand | Malaysia | Indonesia | 5 | Thailand | Vietnam | Indonesia |
| 2013–14 | 4 | Kuala Lumpur | 13 | Thailand | Malaysia | South Korea | 9 | Thailand | Malaysia | Indonesia |
| 2013–14 | Overall | Overall | 43 | Thailand | South Korea | Malaysia | 28 | Thailand | Vietnam | Indonesia |
| 2014–15 | 1 | Naypyidaw | 8 | Thailand | Malaysia | Myanmar | 6 | Thailand | Vietnam | Myanmar |
| 2014–15 | 2 | Melaka | 8 | Malaysia | Thailand | South Korea | 6 | Thailand | Vietnam | Myanmar |
| 2014–15 | 3 | Gunsan | 8 | Thailand | South Korea | Malaysia | 6 | Thailand | South Korea | Indonesia |
| 2014–15 | 4 | Nakhon Pathom | 8 | Thailand | Malaysia | Philippines | 6 | Thailand | Myanmar | South Korea |
| 2014–15 | Overall | Overall | 32 | Thailand | Malaysia | South Korea | 24 | Thailand | Vietnam | Myanmar |

## Tournament Format

Matches are played using a best of three formats, where teams compete to win two sets. Once one team wins two sets, the remaining sets (if any) are discarded. If any team wins the first two sets, it wins the match, and the remaining one set is not played.
The first round, or group stage, features 8 men's and 6 women's teams, respectively divided into groups of 4 and 3; each team playing a round-robin against every other team in their group. Based on points accumulated, the top 2 teams from each group advanced to the playoff stage, which featured two rounds of matches, each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round; namely the semifinal and final rounds. In addition, there was also a play-off to decide the fifth to eighth placings.
| Regu format Each team is represented by three players on the court, with two additional substitutes. The three players on the court are divided into three specialist positions including; the ‘tekong’ who serves the ball; the ‘feeder’ who sets the ball up and facilitates the attack; the ‘killer’ or striker, who spikes the ball set by the feeder. The players can swap positions throughout the match. | Group format Teams were awarded points based on the number of sets they won, as opposed to the traditional group scoring based on wins and losses. This system was devised to bolster competitive spirit, rewarding teams for every set they won, regardless of whether they won the match. If there two or more teams are even on points at the end of the group stage, individual points earned during the group stage matches will be used as a tie-breaker. | Set Format Each set is won by the side which scores twenty-one (21) points with a minimum lead of two (2) points. In the event of a twenty to twenty tie (20-20), the set shall be won by the side which gets a lead of two (2) points, or when a side reaches twenty-five (25) points (whichever occurs first). When the score is tied at 20-20, the Match Referee will announce "setting up to 25 points". During the third set, the teams shall change sides when one Regu reaches 11 points. |

## Tournament ranking

Ranking index :
| Position | Points |
| 1st Place | 250 |
| 2nd Place | 230 |
| 3rd Place | 210 |
| 4th Place | 200 |
| 5th Place | 190 |
| 6th Place | 180 |
| 7th Place | 170 |
| 8th Place | 160 |
| N Place | Point of N+1 Place -10 |
Men's ranking :
| Position | Country | Accumulation points |
| 1. | Thailand | 980 |
| 2. | Malaysia | 920 |
| 3. | Myanmar Singapore South Korea | 770 |
| 6. | Japan | 710 |
| 7. | Indonesia | 560 |
| 8. | China | 490 |
| 9. | Philippines | 210 |
| 10. | India | 180 |
| Rangking Updated: 26 October 2015 |||
Women's ranking :
| Position | Country | Accumulation points |
| 1. | Thailand | 1000 |
| 2. | Vietnam | 860 |
| 3. | Malaysia | 760 |
| 4. | Japan | 720 |
| 5. | Myanmar | 650 |
| 6. | South Korea | 640 |
| 7. | Indonesia | 410 |
| Rangking Updated: 26 October 2015 |||
Note: The ranking is only measured from the latest tournament, not the all-time ranking.

## Medal Tally

Men's tournament :
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Thailand | 10 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| 2 | Malaysia | 1 | 8 | 1 | 10 |
| 3 | South Korea | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 4 | Indonesia | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Myanmar | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Philippines | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | United States | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (7 entries) | Totals (7 entries) | 12 | 12 | 12 | 36 |
Women's tournament :
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Thailand | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | Vietnam | 0 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 3 | South Korea | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Indonesia | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | Myanmar | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | Malaysia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Totals (6 entries) | Totals (6 entries) | 12 | 12 | 12 | 36 |