Genting: Prior to the tie on Tuesday, no one would have believed that the No. 7 team in Malaysia Purple League, Ampang Jaya BC could defeat the No. 4 team Cheras BC in dramatic fashion by winning only 2 out of 5 matches of the tie. This was due to the unique scoring format used by Malaysia Purple League made the matches more exciting and competitive throughout the tie where the winner of each tie was determined by the total number sets/games won, not the number of matches won.
Cheras got off to a shaky start when the 2011 World junior champion Zulfadli Zulkifli dropped two sets against Cheras’ Lee Cheuk Yiu before ended that tough first men’s singles match 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 over the skilled Lee Cheuk Yiu.
The first women’s singles match was the turning point in the tie when Ho Yen Mei of Ampang Jaya BC won 3-0 over Febby Angguni of Cheras BC to extend Ampang Jaya BC’s lead to 5-3.
Ampang Jaya BC then lost the closely contested mixed doubles matche when Kuan Kam Chung/Shevon Lai Jemie fell 8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9 and 10-11 to Joyce Wai Chi Choong/Mohd Razif Ab Latif of Cheras BC, but still added 2 more points to the score board to help Ampang Jaya lead at 7-6.
Cheras BC’s scratch pair Muhammad Hafizi Hashim/Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Ong managed to pull their team level in the tie at 9-9 when they beat Ong Yew Sin/Rendy Sugiarto 11-8, 10-11, 11-4, 5-11, 11-10 in the men’s doubles event.
In the decisive fifth match, Goh Giap Chin applied the final touches to Ampang Jaya BC as he swept past former Malaysia national men’s singles shuttler Mohamad Arif Ab Latif 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6 helping Ampang Jaya narrowly edged out Cheras BC by winning the pulsating tie 12-11.
In another tie that was held earlier Tuesday, Muar City BC overcame Serdang BC 11-8.
Both Muar BC and Ampang Jaya BC will face Wednesday’s quarterfinals winners in the semi-finals which will be held this Saturday.
Teams that are competing in the RM479,000 Resorts World Genting Champions Challenge consist of Muar City BC, Petaling Jaya BC, Puchong United BC, Cheras BC, Petaling BC, Kepong BC, Ampang Jaya BC and Serdang BC.
