Kuala Lumpur: On Sunday night, Muar City BC of Purple League notched a blowout 15-6 win over Kepong BC to extend their franchise record winning streak to 9 games, thanks to strong performances from Lee Hyun Il and Mak Hee Chun/Tan Bin Shen.
Lee Hyun-Il got off to a good start, breaking Goh Soon Huat of Kepong BC 11-7, 11-5, 10-11, 11-7 to win the first men’s singles match comfortably in 39 minutes.
However, the next match went the way of Kepong BC, when Hendra Gunawan/Mei Qili dispatched Au Kok Leong/Chow Mei Kuan of Muar City 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 in the mixed doubles match.
With a relatively sparse crowd enjoying the matches, Taiwanese Tai Tzu Ying of Muar City overcame some early shakiness to find stability and a solid grip on the women’s singles match by knocking off Liang Xiao Yu 11-4, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8.
In a clash between current Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) players and former BAM players, reigning Malaysian Champion Mak Hee Chun/Tan Bin Shen won an overwhelming and unexpected victory against Ow Yao Han/Tan Boon Heong 11-9, 11-4, 11-8 to put Muar City ahead with 9-5 in the overall score.
Muar City appeared to be cruising smoothly in the last two matches, when Tan Chun Seang closed out the second men’s singles match 3-0 and Chow Pak Chuu/Tan Wee Kiong took charge of the match, before wrapping up the tie with Muar City winning 15-6 over Kepong BC.
Spearheaded by Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong, Ampang Jaya BC won a roller coaster tie over Cheras BC with 14-10 early Sunday.
While the last spot of Champions Challenge still up for grab, the number ninth team Serdang BC picked up a critical 15-8 win over the number eight team in the league Klang United BC. Since only the top eight teams could make it to the Champions Challenge that will be held from Feb 5 to Feb 8, Klang United will need to win two tough ties left; against the number sixth team Petaling BC and number seventh team Cheras BC to ensure a postseason berth. Meanwhile, Serdang has a relatively easy schedule for their last two ties when they only need to play the two worst teams of the league which are Bangsar Hawks and Kajang BC.
