No stranger: Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan will be among the international stars taking part in the Malaysian Purple League. — AFP
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Purple League is back after a two-year hiatus and several foreign stars are set to add glitter to the tournament.
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen (men’s singles), Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh (men’s singles), Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, Singapore’s Terry Hee-Jessica Tan (mixed doubles) and Loh Kean Hean (men’s doubles) are some of the big names who will be participating in the sixth edition of the tournament from Oct 1-7 at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam.
The Grand Finals will be held at the Arena of Stars, Resorts World Genting on Oct 8-9.
National shuttlers Soniia Cheah (women’s singles), Goh Jin Wei (women’s singles) and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (mixed doubles) will also compete in the tournament.
Chief operating officer of Malaysian Purple League Ho Khek Mong expects the tournament to be very competitive due to the star names on show.
“This year’s Purple League will be very competitive as we will not only have many top foreign players participating, but also our local clubs will send their best players after the two-year pandemic period gave them more time to prepare,” said Khek Mong at the tournament launching ceremony yesterday.
Meanwhile, former international and local club Serdang BC team owner Ong Ewe Hock was happy that the tournament will take place again and said it gives a great opportunity for youngsters in the country to gain valuable exposure.
“In Serdang BC, we always try to give opportunities to youngsters and the Purple League is a great platform for them to play against world-class players. It’s not easy for young players nowadays to get this type of exposure.
“If their world rankings are below 200, they have no chance to compete against players ranked in the top 50.
For the record, Puchong United BC were the last winners of the tournament in 2019.
