BMBC aims to bounce back next season in SSPL

CYBERJAYA (12 JANUARY 2019): Winless, Bandar Maharani Badminton Club (BMBC) aims to bounceback in next season’s SS Purple League after finishing their campaign with a 6-12 loss to Petaling Badminton Club (Petaling BC) on the penultimate day of Stage 2 at Gem In Mall, Cyberjaya tonight.

This defeat, capped a miserable campaign for the debutants who endured nine consecutive losses to finish last in the eight team league from Stage 1 till Stage 2.

“I learnt a lot from taking charge of a team in the Purple League compared to the Purple League Junior. The standard is vastly different between the two,” said BMBC coach, Yap Kim Heng.

“I didn’t have much time to prepare the team due to taking up the job in such short notice. I couldn’t pick the senior players as most of the teams have had their pick, thus I had to rely on the juniors.

“I had promoted Lee Chong King and Yap Roy King from the Purple League Junior. It is a good exposure for them, playing against established players,” he added.

Petaling BC, who are now in third, meanwhile continued their trek to Genting and are now odds on favourite to confirm their qualification tomorrow with a win against Serdang Badminton Club (SBC).

Chong Yee Han gave the perfect start for Petaling BC when he easily overcame Ooi Jhy Dar, 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-4) in the men’s singles.

Lim Fun Yin was next up in the women’s singles and she didn’t disappoint, achieving a 3-0 (11-7, 11-3, 11-9) over Yap Yee for a 6-0 lead.

BMBC’s men’s doubles pair, Mohd Razlan Shah Mohd Ridzuan Shah-Yap Roy King almost had Man Wei Chong-Shia Chun Kang on the ropes, but couldn’t find the knockout blow and succumbed, 2-3 (11-7, 11-10, 3-11, 3-11, 3-11) for Petaling BC to lead 9-2.

BMBC got their consolation win through mixed doubles pair, Wong Tien Ci-Yap Rui Chen who were awarded a 3-0 win after Malaysian-Australian pair, Chen Tang Jie-Gronya Somerville conceded a walkover to close the gap to 5-9.

Normal service was resumed for Petaling BC when final men’s singles, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin completed the rout, 12-6 with a 3-1 (11-8, 11-10, 9-11, 11-7) win over Lim Chong King.

Meanwhile, debutants, TCBC in Group B are through to the final rounds after another barnstorming display, this time against Bukit Mertajam All Stars Badminton Club (BMASBC) to record a clean sweep, winning all five of their matches, 15-4.

Satheishtharan Ramachandran (men’s singles), Rusydina Antardayu (women’s singles), Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong (men’s doubles), Soong Fie Cho-Tan Jinn Hwa (mixed doubles), Yeoh Seng Zoe (men’s singles) finished off the job in style to ensure the newcomers qualification to Genting in style.