Serdang BC made it two wins out of two in the on-going Resorts World Genting Purple League 2015 when they edged Ampang Jaya BC 12-9 on the fourth matchday of the premier badminton league in the country here at the Sport Arena@Sentosa.
But while Serdang jubilates, the match this afternoon was marked by the unfortunate withdrawal of Ampang Jaya’s Hayom Rumbaka in the final men’s singles of the day when he had to pull out in the last set after taking a bad fall against Lim Chi Wing.
The score at the time was tied 2-2 with Chi Wing taking the first set 11-7 before losing the next two 11-6, 11-3 to Rumbaka.
But Chi Wing, the former champion of the 100PLUS National Junior Badminton Circuit, fought back to win 11-10 going into the final decisive set.
And after surging to a 10-9 lead for Rumbaka’s match point, a jumping smash saw the Indonesian star making an awkward landing to give the game to Chi Wing 3-2.
“I feel sorry for him (Rumbaka). It was not the best way to win the game but these things happen,” said Chi Wing afterwards.
Added Serdang chief coach Ong Ewe Hock: “player selection was key. My plan has always been to promote the local players and so far it has shown to be a good move.”
“We have won two matches out of two and that can only give the players a lot of confidence. We have to have a good mixture between the local and foreign players to be effective.”
Ampang Jaya, who had lost their first game of the season to Cheras BC two days earlier, started strongly when Setyaldi gave them a clear 3-0 win in the first men’s singles after beating Serdang’s Alfred Lau 11-3, 11-9 and 11-2.
But from then on, it was downward spiral for Ampang Jaya when they allowed Serdang to win the women’s singles with Xu Wei beating Desiree Siow 3-1 (10-11, 11-3, 11-4 and 11-8).
With the score at 4-3 to Ampang Jaya’s advantage, Serdang then went on to win the mixed doubles with Tan Chee Tean-Yap Cheng Wen beating Kuan Kam Chung-Ng Hui Ern 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 10-11 and 11-4).
Ampang Jaya’s Chin Chuan Jue-Ong Yew Sin tried to make a game of it in the men’s doubles but after winning the first set 11-7, they failed to control the momentum against Serdang’s Chen Zhuofu-Tseng Min Hao to lose 11-7, 11-4.
Chuan Jue-Yew Sin took the next set 11-10 but faltered into the final set 6-11.
Going into the final men’s singles of the day at 9-7 to Serdang, the advantage was theirs for the taking and coach Ewe Hock seemed to have gambled right putting the young Chi Wing against the more experienced Hayom.
The win today followed Serdang’s earlier 13-4 victory over Klang United BC to push them to second in the standings.
In the meantime, Klang United picked up their first win of the season when they beat Bangsar Hawks BC 12-6 in the match that was played earlier in the morning.
And the match was a fighting duel all the way with Klang winning the first 3-0 in the men’s singles through Leong Jun Hao beating Mohd Razlan Shah (11-6, 11-7 and 11-5).
But Klang lost focus in the next two games of the women’s singles and also the mixed doubles to allow Bangsar Hawks to draw level 6-6.
However, the ensuing men’s doubles and also the final men’s singles would be pivotal for Klang as they whitewashed Bangsar 3-0 each for the final 12-6 scoreline.
