GENTING HIGHLANDS (11 FEBRUARY, 2017): Petaling BC concluded their SS Purple League 2016/17 season on the right note after beating Ampang Jaya BC (10-4) to fifth place in their SSPL 2016/17 5th/6th Playoff match today at the Arena of Stars, Resorts World Genting.
Liew Daren made lightweight of his opponent, Ampang Jaya’s Ajay Jayaram, winning 3-1 in the first men’s singles match to ensure that Petaling got off on the right foot. However, the match was quickly levelled as Xu Wei of Ampang Jaya beat Petaling’s Yap Rui Chen with a similar score line (3-1) in the women’s singles match.
Petaling’s youngster Man Wei Chong, guided by Rio Olympic silver medallist, Goh V Shem, helped their team regain the lead after easily beating their Ampang Jaya opponents – Lukhi Nugroho and Muhammad Syawal in straight sets (3-0) in the men’s doubles match.
Pressure was high on Ampang Jaya’s young mixed doubles pair of Anna Cheong and Tan Yip Jiun as they needed to win their match to keep their team in the tie.
However the pressure was too much on the youngsters as Petaling’s pair of Devi Tika Permatasari and Riky Widianto wrapped up the game for their team with a game to spare. The Indonesians won the match 3-0.
“Overall Petaling BC this season is consistently doing well. We were champions in the Junior Purple League and our senior team is very strong – one of the favourites to win but we fell short. However I am still happy, ending the campaign with a win and finishing fifth,” said Petaling’s head coach, Yap Kim Hock.
“We will come back stronger. We didn’t have the likes of Iskandar Zulkarnain and Datuk Wira Lee Chong Wei for Stage 2 but our juniors such as Man Wei Chong and Chen Tang Jie are showing promising signs and they will definitely improve next year,” added Kim Hock.
Meanwhile, Kepong BC secured seventh spot in this season’s SSPL after breezing past Serdang BC in their 7th/8th Playoff match earlier today at the Arena of Stars, Resorts World Genting. Serdang finished their campaign in eighth while Bangsar Hawks BC came in ninth place.
SS Purple League 2016/17 Stage 2 Results
5th/6th Playoff (8pm): Ampang Jaya BC lost to Petaling BC 4-10
MS1: Ajay Jayaram lost to Liew Daren 1-3 (4-11, 9-11, 11-4, 8-11)
WS: Xu Wei bt Yap Rui Chen 3-1 (11-4, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8)
MD: Lukhi Nugroho-Muhammad Syawal lost to Goh V Shem-Man Wei Chong 0-3 (6-11, 8-11, 8-11)
XD: Anna Cheong-Tan Yip Jiun lost to Devi Tika Permatasari-Riky Widianto 0-3 (8-11, 7-11, 10-11)
7th/8th Playoff (4pm): Kepong BC bt Serdang BC 15-2
MS1: Soong Joo Ven bt Sim Fong Hau 3-1 (11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8)
WS: Aprilia Yuswandari bt Shen Yabing 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7)
**Serdang BC penalized 9 points as they failed to comply with the players’ ranking points system in their line-up – a rule established by Malaysia Purple League at the very start of the tournament.
