As the outbreak has plagued the world for more than a year, people from all walks of life have been affected to varying degrees. The aim of the Malaysia Purple League has always been to promote badminton in the country and to create a platform for players to become the next badminton champion.
In the past, MPL has hosted group leagues played by various clubs. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the league organiser will be hosting the Top Glove Purple League Pro-Am 2020, sponsored by Top Glove, an individual event aimed at creating a competitive platform for independent professional players.
The 2020 Top Glove Purple League PLPA, originally slated in September, was delayed for about three months due the recent conditional movement control order (CMCO) regulations set by the government. The tournament will be held from 29 December 2020 to 3 January 2021 at Kompleks Kejiranan Precinct 11, Putrajaya.
Organizers expressed their hope that the event will give independent players a chance to return to the badminton arena and win prize money of more than RM100,000. The inaugural event is divided into three individual events, namely men’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles, and the elimination round.
Some former national team stars who have confirmed their participation are Daren Liew, Soong Joo Ven and Iskandar Zulkarnain. The drawing ceremony for this event will be conducted tomorrow (23 December) in an open and transparent manner.
Purple League chief operation officer, Ho Khek Mong thanked Top Glove for delivering a silver lining to badminton as this is seen as a great initiative to support Malaysia’s independent professional players.
As a player before, he understands that what professional players, especially independent players need most now is to the chance to play, in order to get back in shape and improve on their world ranking.
He added that the tournament was mainly about promoting players over the age of 18, as many players need to decide whether to continue with their studies or work when they reach the age of 17 or 18 because of the limited number of professional events in the country for 18-year-olds.
“In fact, the players are relatively mature, so we hope to help players over the age of 18 improve their level of play and progress to world stage through the Top Glove Purple League Pro-Am Competition 2020. When the platform stabilizes in the future, we will turn it into a perennial year-end Cup,” added Ho.
MPL thanked the Putrajaya Badminton Club for showing great support towards this event, and this collaboration is a sign of badminton clubs and the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) complementing each other for the betterment of Malaysia’s badminton.
Ho stresses that “The main objective of this tournament is to create another competitive platform to develop more talented players as many of the 18-year-olds in the state teams belong to private clubs. Thus, the aim and creation of Pro- Am 2020 is to urge clubs to continue grooming talented players. This competition will not only allow these up-and-coming players to play in a competitive platform, but also have the opportunity to be absorbed by the clubs and even the national team.”
The players who have won the national under-21 and under-18 doubles and mixed doubles titles in recent years are players from the clubs and MPL hopes that this tournament will bring back the badminton actions ahead of the next season and allow independent players to return to the game after not being able to be in action for approximately 10 months.
He believes that after more than half a year of break, he can feel the hunger and thirst of the players, hence this competition will be one full of suspense. Anticipating high viewership, Ho urged badminton fans to be on the watch out.
In addition to Top Glove Purple League Pro-Am 2020, the media can brace themselves for more excitement in the upcoming tournaments organised by MPL such as SENHENG redOne Purple League 2020/2021, AEON Credit Purple League Junior 2020, Bizlink Property Purple League Corporate 2020/2021 among other events.
_____________________________________________________________________
Dates:
➢ 29th December (Tuesday):Men’s Doubles Round 16 & Quarterfinals
➢ 30th December (Wednesday):Mixed Doubles Round 16 & Quarterfinals
➢ 31st December (Thursday):Men’s Singles Round 16 & Quarterfinals
➢ 1st January (Friday):All events semi-finals
➢ 2nd January (Saturday):All events 3rd & 4th placing
➢ 3rd January (Sunday):All events finals
PRIZE MONEY
Men’s Doubles & Mixed Doubles:
Champion – RM15,000
Runner-up – RM8,000
3rd Placing – RM4,000
4th Placing – RM2,000
5th – 8th Placing – RM1,000
9th – 16th Placing – RM500
Men’s singles:
Champion – RM10,000
Runner-up – RM5,000
3rd Placing – RM2,500
4th Placing – RM1,500
5th – 8th Placing – RM1,000
9th – 16th Placing – RM500
2020顶级手套紫盟羽联专业自由人比赛为自由人球员提供崭新平台
由于疫情滋扰全球超过一年,各界人士深受各种程度的影响。大马紫盟羽联一直以来的宗旨是推广羽毛球运动,为球员们打造晋身世界好手行列的平台。过去,我们都主办由各支俱乐部竞技的团体联赛。这一次我们将别开生面,将由大马紫盟羽联主办,顶级手套赞助,旨在为自由人球员打造竞技平台的“2020顶级手套紫盟羽联专业自由人比赛”,这比赛原本在9月份举办的,由于当时政府制定有条件行管令,所以被迫延迟约3个月后,将于12月29日至1月3日假布城第11区的社区睦邻中心进行。
主办方希望这个赛事能让自由人有机会重返久别的赛场,同时可赢取总额超过10万令吉的奖金。这次的赛事共分三个单项,即男单,男双,混双,并以淘汰赛的方式进行。一些久违的前国家队球星如刘国伦、宋浚洋、伊斯甘达等都确认将会参赛。我们将于明天(12月23日)以公开及透明的方式,进行抽签仪式。
大马紫盟羽联总执行长何克望感谢顶级手套在这非常事情能够挺身为自由人球员雪中送炭。他表明,自己曾是一名球员,了解球员们尤其是自由人球员目前最需要的是比赛,以便能找回状态及提高世界排名。
他补充说,这项赛事主要是提拔18岁以上球员,由于国内供18岁以上参加的专业赛事不多,许多球员到了17、18岁便面临选择,有的选择继续读书或工作。
“其实大马的球员相对而言成熟得较晚,所以我们希望通过“2020顶级手套紫盟羽联专业自由人比赛”这个平台来协助18岁以上的球员提高他们的水平,迈向世界舞台。若日后着平台稳定了,我们将把它变成常年杯。“
值得一提的是,这项比赛是获得了布城羽协的支持,作为与大马羽总互补性质的一个比赛,携手推动我国羽毛球运动。
“我们主要还要帮助大马羽总发掘更多具备潜能的球员,现在很多州队的18岁的球员都投入了私人俱乐部怀里。这个比赛不但能帮助这些后起之秀得到一个训练比赛的平台,还有机会被俱乐部乃至国家队吸纳。这是我们办这个比赛的目的。“
近年来获得全国21岁以下及18岁以下的双打及混双冠军的都是来自俱乐部的球员,我们希望这比赛能提升俱乐部球员的水平,同时在自由人球员“荒废了近10个月后,能够再重返赛场。
他认为,经过了了大半年的休战,他可以感受到球员们的饥渴,这次复赛势必如出闸的猛虎,相信观赏性很高,并请球迷们拭目以待。
除了“2020顶级手套紫盟羽联专业自由人比赛“,大马紫盟羽联在这个赛季也将主办“2020 永旺信用紫盟羽联青年赛”、“2020 SENHENG redONE紫盟羽毛球职业联赛”、“2020 Biz Link紫盟企业联赛”等活动,希望广大球迷们继续关注及支持我们。谢谢。
赛程:
➢ 12月9日 (星期二):男双16强及复赛
➢ 12月30日 (星期三):混双16强及复赛
➢ 12月31日 (星期四):男单16强及复赛
➢ 1月1日 (星期五):所有项目半决赛
➢ 1月2日 (星期六):所有项目季殿军
➢ 1月3日 (星期日):所有项目决赛
奖金
男双&混双:
冠军 – RM15,000
亚军- RM8,000
季军- RM4,000
殿军- RM2,000
第五名至第8名- RM1,000
第9名至第16名- RM500
男单:
冠军 – RM10,000
亚军- RM5,000
季军- RM2,500
殿军- RM1,500
第5名至第8名- RM1,000
第9名至第16名- RM500