Title-holders PUBC secure direct entry to league finals
PETALING JAYA: Defending champions Puchong United BC (PUBC) took a giant leap towards the SS Purple League title after securing a direct entry into the SS Purple League Finals, which will be held at the Arena of Stars in Genting Highlands from Jan 24-27.
PUBC were held to a thrilling 10-10 draw by Petaling BC (PBC) at the Gem In Mall in Cyberjaya on Sunday but it was enough for them to complete their Stage 1 campaign in second spot with 81 games won.
They joined leaders Ampang Jaya BC as the two teams sealing their places in the six-team showdown in Genting.
AJBC also won 81 games but finished first in the eight-team standings by virtue of conceding less games. AJBC lost only 47 games compared to PUBC, who conceded 55.
AJBC and PUBC will be seeded first and second respectively in the Finals, to be played in knockout format. Being the seeded teams, they will start the Finals in last four.
“Qualifying automatically for the Finals means we are just two wins away from a successful title defence,” said PUBC manager Irina Inozemtseva.
“Although we’re the defending champions, we had to overcome good fight from all competitors to get to this stage. I’m happy that my team have been consistent right from the first match.”
AJBC breathed a huge sigh of relief after their anxious wait was over. After topping the table on Saturday, they were made to wait for the PUBC versus PBC fixture outcome.
AJBC will be overtaken by both PUBC and PBC had the two teams registered a 12-12 draw.
“It was real close!” said AJBC manager Ho Khek Mong.
“This is the first time our club made the top four after five seasons. Now that we have made this far, hopefully we can go all the way to win our first title!”
But AJBC will first need to bolster their squad as they will be without their top stars such as Kento Momota, Lee Zii Jia, Goh Jin Wei, Chan Peng Soon and Shevon Lai Jemie.
They are unavailable for the Finals as it clashes with the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta.
The third to eight ranked teams will battle it out for the remaining four spots in Stage 2 from Jan 11-13. Stage 2 features a two-group round-robin competition with games won from Stage 1 carried forward.
Third-placed PBC (80) have been drawn in the Group A with sixth-placed Serdang BC (54) and last-placed Bandar Maharani BC (47), while Kepong BC (79), Tebrau City BC (64) and Bukit Mertajam All Stars BC (51), wo finished fourth, fifth and seventh, are bunched in Group B.
The top four teams in the final standings will complete the six-team cast for the Finals in Genting Highlands. RESULTS Puchong United BC drew with Petaling BC 10-10 (Alfred Lau lost to Chong Yee Han 11-7, 1-11, 5-11, 2-11; Ho Yen Mei bt Gabriela Meilani Monigka 11-9, 11-10, 7-11, 11-9; Tan Boon Heong-Tan Kian Meng bt Man Wei Chong-Shia Chun Kang 119, 11-4, 11-7; Tang Chun Man-Goh Liu Ying bt Terry Hee-Lai Pei Jing 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 10-11, 7-8; Lee Cheuk Yiu lost to Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin 10-11, 11-6, 9-11, 7-10).