KUALA LUMPUR – The Petaling Badminton Club (Petaling BC) announced at Sports Arena Sentosa today, its exciting line-up of players for the upcoming Malaysia Purple League, 2018/2019 season taking place from 21 st December 2018 to 27 th January 2019.
Petaling BC’s star players include big names such as Goh V Shem, Olympic Silver Medallist for men’s doubles; Iskandar Zulkarnain, national men’s singles player and Lai Pei Jing, national mixed doubles women player. Rising stars in Petaling BC’s squad include Aaron Chia, 21, men’s doubles player; Chen Tang Jie, 20, mixed doubles male player and Gronya Somerville, 23, Australian women’s doubles player.
Goh V Shem rose to fame for his outstanding performance at the Thomas Cup and Commonwealth Games respectively in 2014. He won the silver medal with Tan Wee Kiong at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Gronya Somerville added a touch of international glamour to the event. She first garnered the media’s attention as a young player in 2012 at the Uber Cup in China. Sommervile and her partner Setyana Mapasa, captured Australia's first ever Grand Prix title in 2016, after winning the Canada Open.
“As the founding club of the Malaysia Purple League, Petaling Badminton Club is proud to announce our line-up of players that include a dynamic mix of talents from Malaysia and international players from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.
“In the spirit of the holiday season, it’s heartening to see how badminton has not only brought Malaysia national glory but also brings people from various background and countries together for the love of this thrilling game,” said James Koh, Group Chief Operating Officer of Petaling BC.
“Petaling BC has a track record of developing talents and as a feeder to the national team, a great role envied by many clubs and academies,” said Dato Jack Koh, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Purple League.
James Koh expressed Petaling BC’s gratitude to their sponsors Platinum Victory, Top Glove, Sports Arena during the token of appreciation presentation ceremony. Platinum Victory, a leading property developer in Setapak’s township is the main sponsor for Petaling BC this season.
In addition to the Purple League tournament, Platinum Victory will be collaborating with Petaling BC to further develop the game of badminton in Malaysia. A Badminton Talent Search programme to nurture promising young talent for national glory will be revealed in January. Platinum Victory was represented by Mr Gan Yee Hin, Executive Director at the event.
“We’ve a healthy balance of established stars and upcoming talent for this 5 th edition of the tournament. This bodes well for our club for this season and for the coming years. A big shout-out to Ismail Saman, our team manager & chief coach and entire team for all the hard work and preparation ahead of the tournament,” James Koh added.
O’dea, Petaling BC’s mascot was also unveiled at the press conference. The mascot in the shape of a deer – befitting its name – pumped up the crowd with playful antics. O’dea is the first ever mascot in Malaysia’s badminton club history. Several lucky fans also had the opportunity to pit their badminton skills with Petaling BC’s elite players during the friendly match-play session held at the event.
The Malaysia Purple League was founded by Dato’ Jack Koh in 2014 as a platform in support of the Malaysian badminton scene while raising the standard of badminton proficiency and contributing towards creating future champions for the country. The league is
thus named due to purple long being a symbolic colour associated with royalty, power, and courage.
It is an initiative that provides players of all levels, both professionals and amateurs, with an opportunity to gain invaluable competitive experience, and which concurrently engages retired national greats to guide and inspire a new generation of champions. Stage 1 & 2 of the Purple League is played in a round-robin format, while the Finals from 24-27 January 2019 is a knock-out format.
Formed in 2006 as a badminton academy in Old Klang Road first, today, Petaling BC is the oldest and founding club for Purple League in Malaysia.
