KUALA LUMPUR (20 OCTOBER 2019): Kuantan Synergy Badminton Club (KSBC) claimed an unprecedented Purple League Junior (PLJ) title after successfully winning all eight ties of the AEON Credit Purple League Junior 2019 (ACPLJ2019) which concluded earlier today at Sports Arena Sentosa.
KSBC who were promoted from Division 2 after emerging runners-up last season, went into the season with minimal expectations led the competition from the start and never looked back since.
Coming into the final leg leading the standings, KSBC proved they were a class above the rest this year when they edged fellow title contenders Bandar Maharani BC (BMBC) 12-8 in the last tie of the season to seal the title.
In the final round of ties, runners-up Kepong BC (KBC) gave the eventual Champions a run for their money after thrashing Petaling BC 13-4 early on to sit briefly at the top before KSBC returned to the summit with a five game advantage after the win over BMBC who ended the season in third.
In the boy’s singles, Chia Jeng Hon fell to a 2-3 loss to BMBC’s Ewe Eon Eogene before the reliable girls pair from Chinese Taipei, Hsu Yin Hui-Sung Yi Hsuan put KSBC’s title charge back on track with a 3-1 victory over Go Pei Kee-Hoe Shi Yun.
BMBC once again derailed their opponents’ hopes when their mixed doubles pair of Yap Roy King-Da Gu La Wai E Si Le Po grabbed a 3-1 win over KSBC’s Choi Jian Sheng-Tu Chia Wei only for Siti Nurshuhaini Azman to reassert KSBC’s dominance with a 3-0 thrashing of Tan Min Er in the girls’ singles.
Needing only a set at this point to clinch the crown, the boys’ doubles pair of Muhd Nurfirdaus Azman-Muhd Afiq Fahmi gave cheer to the Kuantan outfit with their 3-1 success over BMBC’s Lee Yi Bo-Muhd Fazriq Mohd Razif.
KSBC’s coach, Azman Amman said after his side’s victory, “I can only say that teamwork is what brought us this title and I would like to congratulate all my players for their efforts to secure this title even though it was our first taste of Division 1 competition”
In Division 2, Ayer Itam BC (AIBC) also maintained their unbeaten record throughout the entire season to be crowned Champions and booked their berth to the Premier division next year.
AIBC overcame Tebrau City BC (TCBC) 12-7 today to preserve their perfect run in the eight team campaign with a 42 games difference and comfortably finishing above second placed Klang Rising BC (KRBC) and Serdang BC (SBC) in third.
For their efforts, KSBC were RM40,000 richer followed by runners up, KBC (RM20,000) and third place, BMBC (RM10,000). Ayer Itam BC as champions of Division Two brought home RM5,000, while runners up, KRBC received RM3,000 and SBC walked away with RM2,000.
Managing Director of AEON Credit Service, Yuro Kisaka said during the prize giving ceremony, “As a corporate company who believes in supporting the growth of the society, we are proud of the new found talents that have been identified through this event. And our only hope is to see that these young talents are being developed to greater level and become world class events and make Malaysia proud.”
The ACPLJ2019 which already saw Bagan BC being crowned the inaugural Division 3 victors in its first leg early last month reached its conclusion today after another successful season providing a platform for up and coming badminton talents to hone their skills.
CEO of Malaysia Purple League, Dato’ Jack Koh also expressed his pleasure at this season’s success. He said, “Badminton is still a powerhouse sport in our country. A total of 79 entertaining matches were played throughout this season involving 22 teams from Divisions 1, 2 and the newly introduced third division. We recorded about 350 registered players including 56 foreign entries for this season.”
