13 Feb A new show piece is born ‘badmintainment’

After two months of breath-taking, exciting and badminton of the highest quality, the curtain has come down on the fourth edition of SS Purple League (SSPL) which showcased the best of local and international ‘badmintainment’.
In addition to witnessing players of the highest caliber in action, the idea to integrate sports and entertainment into a single package paid off handsomely which gave the SS Purple League a unique identity – ‘badmintainment’ – the first of its kind.

“Since the inception of the Purple League, our plan all along was to create an exciting badminton league. So we decided to add certain stipulations into Purple League matches to make it fun to watch. This ‘badmintainment’, as I like to call it, will definitely capture the attention of viewers,” said Malaysia Purple League’s CEO, Datuk Jack Koh.
“But more importantly the purpose of the Purple League is to unearth players with talent who in the near future will strengthen the national team. Some of the examples who came up through the ranks are Lim Chi Wing, the two-time national champion, Lee Zii Jia and Leong Jun Hao.

Puchong United BC was crowned the SS Purple League 2017/18 champions after defeating Kepong BC in the SSPL 2017/18 final at the Arena of Stars, Resorts World Genting last Sunday.

“Spotting and nurturing players inspires us to continue our efforts in not only organising the league but also to increase the level of competition so that it will appeal to the fans and followers,” he added.

In terms of the SSPL 2017/18 season, there have been quite a number of changes that made this season even more exciting.

The introduction of the SSPL Stage 2 impacted respective teams’ runs to the knockout stage. Cheras BC moved from fourth to an automatic semi-final spot in the Finals after a string of impressive results in Stage 2, while Ampang Jaya BC, initially occupying second, dropped out of the top two which then required them to play an extra play-off match to enter the semi-finals.

In a bid to curb time-wasting, the decision to stop the clock in the last minute of each match also impacted several outcomes. It gave players who were trailing in the match the belief to go on and win the match.

Puchong United BC which was initially dubbed the nearly-men/women of the SSPL, finally clinched their maiden SSPL title. Throughout the entire campaign, Puchong United BC looked the heavy favourites to lift the trophy. They only lost once in Stages 1 and 2 and in that game which they lost, they had already ensured top spot hence resting some of their key players.

Puchong United BC continued their dominance of the SSPL 2017/18 Finals held at the Arena of Stars, Resorts World Genting by beating Kepong BC 10-8 in the final and clinch the SSPL 2017/18 championship.

“This has been our dream. I have waited four years for this moment since we first established Puchong United BC. We started out with very little so to win the championship today means the world to us,” said Puchong United BC’s team manager, Irina Inozemtseva.

“It was disappointing not to win last year. So it’s a fantastic achievement for us today. We knew from day one that a lot of hard work and sacrifices had to be made to become a title-winning team and, finally, today it was all worth it,” she added.

Other teams also showed glimpses of excellence. Kepong BC came out of nowhere to qualify for the final outplaying Cheras BC in the semis and Petaling BC in the quarter-finals. Last season’s winners, Petaling Jaya BC had to be content with a third place finish while Cheras BC’s return to the SSPL scene saw them end the season in fourth.
Besides the winner’s trophy, Puchong United BC pocketed RM520,000 while Kepong BC took home RM265,000. Petaling Jaya BC and Cheras BC were awarded RM185,000 and RM160,000 respectively.