IPOH (8 SEPTEMBER 2019): Bagan Badminiton Club (Bagan BC) ruled the roost in the inaugural Division 3 category of the AEON Credit Purple League Junior (ACPLJ) 2019 when they completed a clean sweep, winning all of their matches at the culmination of the opening leg today.Kicking off the action at Sports Arena Falim, Ipoh this weekend, Bagan BC was sitting in second among the six team mini-league yesterday after winning three of their matches against Cheras TP BC, Labuan DSBC and Bayan Lepas BC.

They continued their great run today, winning against Segamat Spiritual BC and Seremban City BC to seal the deal, emerging champions thus sealing an automatic place in Division 2 for next season.

Closest challengers, Cheras TP BC narrowly missed out on promotion as they finished as runners up while overnight leader, Segamat Spiritual BC went home in third.

For their efforts, Bagan BC brought home a winner’s purse of RM1500 while Cheras TP BC went home with RM1000 while Segamat Spiritual BC had to be satisfied with RM800.

Head coach Alif Razlan, who has been with Bagan BC for eight years, attributed the victory to the arrival of coach, Janu Saputra from Indonesia, five years ago.

“Janu joined the team five years ago and he had an immediate impact, sharpening the player’s skill and improving their stamina.

“For this tournament, we had organized a centralized training session for two months at PIBA (Penang Indians Badminton Association), where most of the players are based.

The ACPLJ2019 will take a break next weekend due to the Malaysia Day celebrations and will return on the 21-22 September at the same venue with the opening leg of the Division 2 and 1 category.

This season’s second tier will feature Ayer Itam BC, Tebrau City BC, PGBC, Desa Petaling BC, Serdang BC, Klang Rising BC, Ipoh BC and Damansara BC.

The main event, the Division 1 category will see Bukit Cheras back to defend their title against the usual suspects like Ampang Jaya BC, Petaling BC, Rawang BC alongside newly promoted Amanjaya BC and Kuantan Synergy BC.

The second leg of the Division 2 and 1 category will continue on the 5th to 6th October at the Challenger Sports Centre, Ampang and the champions will be decided duringthe final leg on October 19th & 20th at Sports Arena Sentosa.

Roll of honour:
Champions
Bagan BC – RM1500
Runner’s up
Cheras TP BC – RM1000
Third place
Segamat Spiritual BC – RM800

Results:
Saturday
Cheras TP BC 8-10 Bagan BC
Labuan DSBC 8-11 Bagan BC
Bayan Lepas 7-12 Bagan BC

Sunday
Segamat Spiritual BC 6-11 Bagan BC
Seremban City BC 2-15 Bagan BC