There’s nothing like a shock sporting story, and the rookies, nicknamed Punch Babes, came from nowhere to steal the hearts of the sporting world.

With their daring, and dramatic ability to spring surprises, they stunned the big guns before losing to a mighty Rudy Hartono-led Indonesia in the final.

It was an outcome no one could claim was fortuitous or undeserved.

Did it spark a Malaysian badminton revival? The reset button was firmly hit.

Punch Babes, named after the great Punch Gunalan, showed every young person that it’s possible to take control of your life, overcome daunting obstacles, and become the best.

The key players in the team were Saw Swee Leong (Penang), Phua Ah Hua (Kelantan), Dominic Soong (Perak), Moo Foot Lian, Cheah Hong Chong and James Selvaraj (all Selangor).

They featured in most, if not all, of the battles in the 1975-76 Thomas Cup campaign, with the reserves being Suffian Abu Bakar (Perak), Kwek Chiew Peng and Lim Cheng Hoe (both Negeri Sembilan).

The late Gunalan together with the other coaches, Michael Chan Looi Chong and Lee Guan Chong placed emphasis on comradeship, discipline and intense loyalty.

Then there was a man called Ciku, whose consummate skills in every department of the sport pushed the team forward at every opportunity,

Ciku is Moe Chin Kiat, who as the camp commandant doubled up as coach, timekeeper, fitness record-keeper, physiotherapist, nutritionist, racquet stringer, caretaker and driver.

Gunalan had made a comeback as a coach-manager following the end of Malaysia’s golden era in badminton with the retirement three years earlier of himself, Tan Aik Huang, Ng Boon Bee and Tan Aik Mong.

The superstars quit after the Bangkok debacle where Malaysia were embarrassed by Thailand in the Thomas Cup Asian zone final after leading 3-1 overnight.

Fantabulous babes

This new generation of players first made waves when they sprung an unexpected away win over Prakash Padukone’s India, coming from 4-1 down to triumph 5-4 in the Thomas Cup zone final.

Many thought all was lost when Malaysia trailed 1-3 after the first night to a strong India team that included Dinesh Khanna, Partho Ganguli and Asif Parpia.

Gunalan was so ecstatic during the post-match interview on radio that he kept saying “fantabulous” many times.

“It was Gunalan’s way of describing a fanta-stic and fa-bulous comeback win,” the late sportswriter Tony Francis wrote in the book, “Sports Flame – Stories Never Told Before”.

At the finals in Bangkok, the team whom everyone saw as cannon fodder, faced the Danish dynamite in the semifinal.

Even the most optimistic of pundits gave them no chance against the formidable force of Svend Pri, an All-England champion, Flemming Delfs, Elo Hansen, Steen Skovgaard, Per Walsoe and Poul Petersen.

The shrewd Gunalan was bent on exploiting the underdogs’ tag to the hilt, but first he had to get the players to believe and achieve.

According to Francis’ article, Gunalan taught his shuttlers some tricks like squeezing the shuttle at crucial moments during service to catch the opponent offguard with the faster shuttle speed.

He then hoped the Danes’ overconfidence and the enervating humidity in Bangkok would work in Malaysia’s favour and cause a Danish meltdown.

“We just have to wear them out. For us, winning is not impossible,” he told Francis of New Straits Times and The Star’s George Das, the only two Malaysian print journalists at the finals.

Punch Babes achieved the impossible, winning 5-4 after being tied 2-2 on the first night.

Swee Leong scored an unexpected point against Delfs, while Soong and Hong Chong toppled Pri and Skovgaard for the winning point on the second night.

When asked about Malaysia’s secret, Gunalan told reporters: “I have a bunch of fighters who had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

In the final, Indonesian legends Hartono, Liem Swie King, Tjun Tjun, Ade Chandra, Christian Hadinata and Johan Wahyudi dealt Malaysia a 9-0 drubbing.

The loss did not matter to many Malaysians who came in droves to applaud the players, and get their autographs, on their return from Bangkok.

Caring Ciku

Hong Chong said it was Ciku’s generosity that saw him achieve his Thomas Cup dream.

In an article in the Sports Flame book, he wrote Ciku had in 1970 invited him, Ah Hua, Foot Lian and Selvaraj to join his Merry Juniors Club.

“He paid for everything, the court fees, shuttlecocks and even supper whenever we trained at night. We had no worries,” he said.

When the lads joined the Thomas Cup training squad in 1973, Ciku’s fatherly nature landed him the post of camp commandant at the Wisma MABA, where the players were housed during long periods of centralised training.

“After our gallant runners-up finish to Indonesia, Ciku helped secure jobs and promotions for most of us,” said Hong Chong.

Ciku’s dedication to badminton has not diminished and even in his 80s now, he continues to pour his energy into paralympic badminton.

“Malaysian badminton is so fortunate to have had the untiring services of this man, who never sought the limelight,” Hong Chong said.

In May this year, a reunion of the 1976 Thomas Cup squad took place at the Pik Wah Restaurant, located in Wisma MABA, near Stadium Negara.

The gathering was also to coincide with an overdue homecoming of Soong, who lives and works as a badminton coach in Ottawa, Canada. The absentee was Cheng Hoe who was overseas.

Veteran journalist Yong Soo Heong, who joined his once badminton-playing contemporaries at the event, said the squad members had produced a book to celebrate their exploits.

Although there were nine of them, the coffee table book was entitled “Malaysia Thomas Cup – The Magnificent Six 1975/1976”.

Yong said: “The young men played their hearts out for the glory of the nation, and despite not winning the Thomas Cup, we should forever savour their brilliant journey.”

So, after nearly half a century, what has become of these shuttlers?

“From my regular meetings with most of them, they have done well in their professional careers, and are enjoying life in their sixties and seventies,” said Yong.

They will next gather at the Sports Flame marvel of legends, supported by FMT, on Dec 9 at the Concorde Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

The event is about giving back for the years of joy four journalists, George Das, R Velu, Lazarus Rokk and Fauzi Omar had writing about the role models from the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.