Susumu Teramoto

Susumu Teramoto (born 28 January 1976 in Hiroshima) is a Japanese sepak takraw player who has served as captain and lead attacker of the Japan national team. A former football player at Sanyo High School, he was drawn into the sport in 1994 when the Hiroshima Asian Games preview event found the city had no sepak takraw team and asked footballers to form an improvised one. He entered Asia University on a special talent examination in sepak takraw, became Japan's main attacker as a second-year student, and helped the team win bronze at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan. In 2004 he travelled alone to Thailand, impressed a professional club owner and signed a contract, becoming the only Japanese professional in the Thai league and playing there about four months a year. His stated aim is to turn sepak takraw into a major sport in Japan.