Kuala Lumpur: Ampang Jaya showed no fears facing off against the Purple League defending champions as they dethroned Puchong United 9-6 on Wednesday.
Ampang Jaya which was led by World No. 1 men’s singles player Kento Momota, got off to a slow start against Lee Cheuk Yiu of Puchong United in the first men’s singles match. He was down 1-3, 4-6 before rallied from behind to take the first set 11-8.
Momota managed to find his rhythm early in the second and third sets as he produced a stunning performance through his tricky net shots and his top-tier skills of deception to sweep past Lee 11-4, 11-4 to score the first three points for Ampang Jaya.
In the women’s singles match that followed, World Junior Champion Goh Jin Wei was riding on momentum through Momota’s victory to down Ho Yen Mei 11-7, 11-7, 11-3.
However, Tan Boon Heong/Teo Ee Yi of Puchong United were able to reverse the losing trend by beating Lim Tze Jian/Nugroho Lukhi Apri 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 before Goh Liu Ying/Tang Chun Man tied the overall score with 6-6 by outlasting Chan Peng Soon/Shevon Jemie Lai Jemie 11-9, 11-9, 11-10.
Tan Jia Wei then carried the weight of Ampang Jaya on his shoulder when he stepped up in the second men’s singles match and pulled off a three-set victory over the Puchong United’s Goh Giap Chin 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 to hand Ampang Jaya its third consecutive victory.
Meanwhile, Soong Joo Ven of Kepong literary seized the “last-second” chance to score his fourth point in the fourth-set against Zainuddin Iskandar Zulkarnain when the 30-minute time-limit has been reached, forcing a 2-2 draw in the first men’s singles match thus staging a last-ditch escape to help his team survived a 10-8 triumph.
