Cyber Jaya: The Purple League’s defending champions Muar City Badminton Club (Muar City BC) got off to a strong start in the 2016/2017 season when they beat Petaling Badminton Club (Petaling BC) 10-8 at Gem in Mall, Cyberjaya on Wednesday.
Purple League have introduced a new rule for the new season, where a match can only be played for maximum of 30 minutes. Whoever leads at the end of 30 minutes will become the winner in an 11 x 5 format.
Tan Chun Seang of Muar City BC benefited from the new rule in the first men’s singles match against Daren Liew. Tan was leading 2-1 in the fourth set when the 30 minutes time limit was reached. The first men’s singles match ended in favor of Tan with an 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 2-1 victory.
Hera Desiana Rachmawati managed to put Petaling BC ahead temporarily with 4-3 after beating Sonia Cheah 11-7, 11-8, 11-4.
Newlywed Tan Boon Heong and Hoon Thien How then won the men’s doubles match for Muar City, before Chan Peng Soon/Lee Meng Yean saw off Olympic champion Zhao Yunlei and her Petaling BC mixed doubles partner Agripinna Prima Ramanto 11-10, 11-9, 11-9 to help Muar City surged ahead with 9-5 in overall score.
Although Iskandar Zulkarnain of Petaling BC was able to dispatch Muar City’s Zulfadli Zulkiffli 4-11, 11-7, 11-4, 5-1 in the last men’s singles match, unfortunately, the victory margin was not large enough to seal victory for Petaling BC. The final score between Muar City BC and Petaling BC was 10-8.
In another tie that was held Wednesday, Serdang BC beat Bangsar Hawks BC 10-8.
