NationStates

Posted: **Sun Nov 26, 2023 11:26 pm**

A Garden of Stories: A Samuderan Domestic Sports Newswire

"To those with ears to hear, libraries are really very noisy places.
On their shelves we hear the captured voices of the centuries-old
conversations that makes up our civilization."
— Timothy Healy

"A library is a miracle.
A place where you can learn just about anything, for free.
A place where your mind can come alive."
— Josh Hanagarne

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
— Marcus Tullius Cicero

Hi, welcome to A Garden of Stories, a thread for Samuderan domestic sports newswire....kind of. This is a thread that exists for the sole purpose of documenting sport competitions or related events where Samudera and their puppet/associated nation participated in. For now, the main focus would be football, but hopefully other sports will be added. If you are not Samudera Darussalam or Labuan and Cempaka, please do not post, but readers are always welcome.

For the purpose of (better) documentation, some reposts from other threads are to be expected.

Posted: **Sun Nov 26, 2023 11:30 pm**

Hello and Selamat Datang to Samudera Darussalam!

According to Melayu Archipelago Wiki:

"Samudera, officially the Crowned Federation of Samudera, the Abode of Peace, (Samuderan: ꦦꦺꦂꦱꦺꦏꦸꦠꦸꦮꦤ꧀ꦣꦶꦫꦗꦯꦩꦸꦢꦺꦫꦣꦫꦸꦱ꧀ꦱꦭꦩ꧀, Persekutuan Diraja Samudera Darussalam), is a federal, sovereign country located in Mandalanusa, formerly known as Melayu Archipelago. It is situated mainly on the Samuderan peninsula, although it also possess significant overseas territories, such as Labuan and Cempaka. The country has an estimated population of 27 millions, mainly concentrated in urban areas (as of 2021).

Following the Revolution of 1928 and the revision of its constitution, Samudera Darussalam is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as its head of state and a Mangkubumi as its head of government. The city of Palembang holds the status as the country's nominal capital and is the location where most of the royal family resides, while the national government is based in the neighbouring city of Bandar Raja. Samudera exercises a hegemonic influence in its realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs to its component states."

Click for more info of the country

Sports in Samudera Darussalam

Popular sports in Samudera Darussalam include association football, badminton, tennis, martial arts, and sepak takraw. As Samudera is graced by two seasons thanks to its geographical location, outdoor sports can be played year-round without the usual measures taken by other countries who have 4 seasons as part of their respective climates.

In this thread, there are only a few sports that would be given attention due to their status or popularity in the country. Among these are:

A) Association Football

Logo of FAS, Samudera's national football association

Association football is the most popular sport in the country, in terms of attendance, participation, and revenue. Typically an outdoor sport, it has Liga Diraja as the premier football league of the country, with members consisting of football clubs across Mainland Samudera, the overseas territory of West Saka, and for certain periods in its history, also including clubs from the overseas territory of Labuan and Cempaka, the country's second largest state in term of territory. Historically, the powerhouses of Ujong City and Palembang United, both from Mainland Samudera and based in the country's two largest urban centres on the southern coasts of the peninsula, tend to dominate the domestic league, although other rising powers both from the mainland and West Saka have managed to attract attention recently. Rural regions of Samudera, as well as West Saka, are notable for the high amount of popularity that the sport has garnered.

For info on domestic performances of Samuderan football clubs: link

For information on Samudera's performance on regional and international stage can be gained below from the 'International Sporting Events and Other Related Things' section below.

B) Racquet Sports

Logo of PBSD, Samudera's national badminton association

Racquet sports are among some of the most popular sports in Samudera, arguably taking place as the second most popular after association football. Considered as both an outdoor and indoor type of sport depending on the situation, racquet sports possess the characteristics that they are traditionally more popular among women in Samudera, contradicting that of association football, that is traditionally more popular among men. Racquet sports, especially tennis, are also considerably enjoyed more by the population of urban areas than the ones in rural areas. The most popular form of racquet sports, however, is badminton, or also domestically known in Samuderan as bulu tangkis.

For info on domestic badminton matches and performances in Samudera: link

For information on Samudera's performance on regional and international stage can be gained below from the 'International Sporting Events and Other Related Things' section below.

C) Sepak Takraw

Sepak takraw (kick volleyball) is one of the oldest type of team sports to be played in Samudera and is one of the country's national sports, although its popularity has waned due to the rising popularity of association football among the country's domestic audience. Nevertheless, it is still remarkably favored in rural regions and in some urban areas, with the existence of several clubs fighting for title in a domestic league not dissimilar to that of association football. Considered as both an outdoor and indoor type of sport depending on the situation just like racquet sports, whose arena is similar to that of sepak takraw, the sport is relatively less organized and teams from Samudera is known as never playing against teams from another countries and the governing association tends to focus more on domestic matches.

For info on domestic performances of Samuderan sepak takraw clubs:

International Sporting Events and Other Related Things

A) Football:
Samudera Darussalam is an occasional participant in Mandalanusa's regional association football competitions of CMFA Melayu Archipelago Cup and CMFA Champions League.

1. CMFA MA Cup (MAC) 2 (debut)
Result: Samuderan team was eliminated in the group playoff after its failure to acquire more points following the defeat that it suffered against Sandhoran, Wuriyan, and Eramanian teams during their respective matches.

2. CMFA MA Cup (MAC) 3
Result: Samuderan team once again failed to advance past group stage after its failure to acquire more points, although its performance has grown slightly better, albeit the team still suffered losses during the matches against Segama, Eraman, and Pemecutan.

3. CMFA MA Cup (MAC) 4 - only signup and no rp(s)
Result: Samuderan team managed to advance to the quarter final as the second ranked team in its group (Group B) following its victory against the football team of Labuan and Cempaka and its defeat by Reksonegoro, respectively. Its ambition to advance further was checked by the performance of the team from Soracana Islands, resulted in a score of 5-4 in favor of the latter.

4. CMFA MA Cup (MAC) 5 - only signup and no rp(s)
Result: Samuderan team seemed to deliver worse performance in this edition compared to the previous tournament, as it failed to advance past group stage following defeats against Eraman and Libonesia, although it remarkably scored a 4-0 victory in its match against the co-host Southern Palm Islands' team.

5. CMFA MA Cup (MAC) 8
Result: Samuderan team once again failed to advance past group stage after its failure to acquire more points, with the matches against teams from Baranil and the group's top performer Acastanha both have resulted in a draw.

6. CMFA MA Cup (MAC) 14
Result: Samuderan team managed to advance to the quarter final as the second ranked team in its group (Group D). After a considerably long hiatus from the tournament, the team has managed to deliver a relatively decent performance, where it managed to score a 2-2 draw during its match against the team from the neighbouring country of Eraman, with whom the team has a bad history of performance ever since the early days of MAC. While the team suffered a 1-2 defeat against Berdeng Bundok, it was followed by a 3-4 victory against Tanah Jaya that helped it to qualify past group stage. Its hope to advance further, however was dashed following the team's catastrophic defeat against one of the regional powerhouses Pemecutan, with an end score of 4-0.

B) Badminton

Posted: **Sun Nov 26, 2023 11:31 pm**

Selamat datang to our nagara. Hopefully, you can enjoy your brief stay here

"Labuan and Cempaka, or known in official capacity as the State of Labuan and Cempaka (Samuderan: ꦤꦒꦫꦭꦧꦸꦮꦤ꧀ꦝꦤ꧀ꦕꦼꦩ꧀ꦥꦏ, Nagara Labuan dan Cempaka) is one of the component states of Samudera Darussalam located south of Mainland Samudera across the Panjang Strait that separates the two territories of the Crowned Federation. Due to its geographical location, it possesses the distinction of being the only Samuderan component states to not be located in the mainland, contrasting that with the other states of Gadang and Samudranagara. Consisting of two large islands, with the largest being the island of Cempaka and the smaller one being the island of Labuan, the overseas territory is the second largest state according to its geographical size.

With a population of around 6.84 million per 2021 census, the state is said to be mostly rural in nature with at least a third of the population lives in areas designated as rural according to local administration. Major urban areas exist along the coast, with the largest being Bandar Labuan on the island of Labuan. An elected chief minister (Bendara) heads the regional government, which is based in the state capital of Mutiara on the island of Cempaka, the state's second largest city by population."

Sports in Labuan and Cempaka

Similarly to the rest of Samudera Darussalam, some of the most popular sports in Labuan and Cempaka include association football, badminton, and sepak takraw. However, association football is the only kind of sport that will be paid special attention due to the fact that it is currently the only sport which Labuan and Cempaka has its own local association and league. As such, Labuanese and Cempakan athletes that play for sports other than association football will usually join domestic competitions that also involve other athletes and players from the Mainland.

A) Association Football

Logo of FALC, Labuan and Cempaka's football association

In a not so different situation with Mainland Samudera, association football is also the most popular sport in the state in terms of attendance, participation, and revenue. Typically an outdoor sport, it has Liga Labuan dan Cempaka as the premier football league of the country, with members consisting of football clubs across the state. Historically, the powerhouse of FC Mutiara tends to dominate the domestic league, although there are also rising powers who provide quite a challenge to the current defending champion.

For info on domestic performances of Labuanese and Cempakan football clubs: Link

For information on Labuan and Cempaka's performance on regional and international stage can be gained below from the 'International Sporting Events and Other Related Things' section below.

International Sporting Events and Other Related Things

Football:

Similarly to the rest of Samudera, Labuan and Cempaka is also an occasional participant in Mandalanusa's regional association football competitions.

Posted: **Sun Nov 26, 2023 11:32 pm**

Liga Diraja, alternatively known as "Liga Pertama Diraja", "Liga Pertama", or "Liga Diraja Samudera" in full, is a professional association football league in Samudera Darussalam. At the top of the Samuderan league system, Liga Diraja is the primary football competition in the country. Consisting of 10 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Liga Dua Diraja, which acts as the second division for professional football. On the other hand, Liga Dua Diraja, which is also known as "Liga Dua", consists of 12 teams with the top performing teams usually qualify for promotion to Liga Pertama.

Persekutuan Sepak Bola Samudera (P3S), or more popularly known as FAS (Football Association of Samudera), is the sole governing body of association football for Peninsular Samudera. It briefly united with Persekutuan Sepak Bola Labuan dan Cempaka (Football Association of Labuan and Cempaka, FALC) for administrative reasons, though the end of the 17^th CMFA Champions League, Labuan and Cempaka once more broke off to form its own football association and organizing its own regional matches due to a series of internal disagreements.

Information on domestic Samuderan football clubs that play in Liga Diraja

1. A Compendium: The Five Top Performers of Season 3

Liga Pertama Diraja:

Liga Dua Diraja:

Posted: **Sun Nov 26, 2023 11:33 pm**

Liga Labuan dan Cempaka is a professional association football league in the state of Labuan and Cempaka, a unique existence of its own given that the other territories of Samudera Darussalam have their own football clubs play in the Liga Diraja. An implicit form of the Samuderan overseas territory's autonomy in practice, Liga Labuan dan Cempaka, which is also known by its acronym LDC, is the primary football competition of the state. Consisting of 10 teams, it practically operates on a similar system with that of Liga Diraja.

Persekutuan Sepak Bola Labuan dan Cempaka, or more popularly known as FALC (Football Association of Labuan and Cempaka), is the sole governing body of association football for the state of Labuan and Cempaka. It briefly united with FAS (Football Association of Samudera) for administrative reasons, though the end of the 17^th CMFA Champions League, Labuan and Cempaka broke off to form its own football association and organizing its own regional matches, with "a series of internal disagreements" cited as the reason.

Seasons:

Posted: **Mon Nov 27, 2023 4:01 am**

Posted: **Wed Nov 29, 2023 8:09 am**

All-Samudera National Badminton Championship

All-Samudera National Badminton Championship, or also widely known as “Kejuaraan Nasional Bulu Tangkis Seluruh Samudera” in Samuderan is an annual tournament organized by the Badminton Association of Samudera Darussalam to crown the best badminton players in Samudera. The tournament is considered as one level below the Crowned Federation Games (Samuderan: “Pesta Olahraga Persekutuan Diraja”), a federal multi-sport event that is held every four year in the country.

Badminton Association of Samudera Darussalam, or also widely known as “ Persekutuan Bulu Tangkis Samudera Darussalam” (PBSD) in Samuderan, is the governing body of badminton in Samudera Darussalam.

List of National Badminton Championship(s):
First

Posted: **Thu Nov 30, 2023 1:09 am**

Looking out at the bustling scene before her from brown eyes so dark they are almost black, the glasses-wearing girl sighed, but not in exasperation. Truth to be told, as a small smile started to grace her round face, she began to feel nostalgia creeping in. This scene reminded her of something, or maybe several things, in her past. Well, to be fair, she used to frequent this place before, years ago, and as she let her eyes wander around, it seems that things didn’t change much from the ones in her memories, except for select bits.

For one, the newspaper stand near the gate doesn’t seem to be as busy or as large as it was the last time she saw it.

“Time changes, Miss.” The old man with a brown beanie who mans the stand told her with a remarkable northern accent as he smiled, handing her the Bola tabloid that she had laid her eyes on for the past few minutes. The thing costs her 5 Kupangs. Must be pricier thanks to the place they are in. “Nowadays, I reckon that people don’t read much printed publications, especially the youngsters, don’t they? Just use your gadgets and look around for the nearest space that provides free WiFi, and boom, you are set. Internet rules the world now.”

‘Ain’t that the truth’, the girl silently mused, tabloid in hand, as she thanked the shopkeeper and walked back to the her previous seat. She could indeed easily finds out what she wanted to know from the internet, but nothing beats the smell of newspaper in the morning. The girl sat, and then opened the tabloid to go look for the section she is looking for, her eyes peered over the amalgamation of words and pictures.

Then she found it.

A Week of Surprises: All-Samudera National Badminton Championship

Athletes from the mainland states of Samudranagara and Gadang managed to dominate this year’s badminton competition in both Singles and Doubles after a series of unexpected showings. In the Single category, Dwi Fatimah Jerom managed to win herself the first place by winning 7 out of 10 matches, marking her as the best player for single category in general as well as the best women’s single for the season. Hailing from the town of Jerom in Western Samudranagara, Ms. Jerom managed to keep her good performance and maintain her position within the top 5 rank throughout the competition despite several stumbles in her initial matches. Trailing behind her on the second and third placement are Dinihari Puteh from Samudranagara and Yusnizar Sikumbang from Gadang, who also make respectable showings of their own despite Ms. Puteh’s shaky performances in the 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th Match Days, losing to her fellow competitor from Samudranagara, Dwi Fatimah Jerom, along with Gadangese competitors Aaron Wong and Cantika Silinduang, respectively. Meanwhile, the fourth and fifth place went to Usman Demang of Samudranagara and Mubarak Setiawan of Gadang, who both managed to surprise us with their performance in the latter days of the match following their own earlier bad results. On the other hand, Cantika Silinduang, who seemingly has managed to become an early favorite due to strong performances in her initial matches, flopped to sixth from her initial first place after her unlikely defeats in the middle and latter days of the competition including during her matches with Kemuning Arifin and Aaron Wong, with the latter being placed right after her despite his generally less than stellar performance for much of the competition…

Top 10 placement after the last match of the national competition for Single category

Result for the last match

The Double category relatively saw few participants compared to the Single category, although the competition here is no less tight than its counterpart. On the last match day, the pair Rusdiawan Thamrin/Faisal Anugrah from Ujong in Gadang managed to beat the other 9 pairs to be placed in the first placement, which also made them the best men’s double for the season. On the first day of the match, the pair managed to win against Yanuar Karim/Elly Palinggam from the same state which placed them at the first placement along with David Eliazar Wong/Lee Kim Hock of Gadang and Anwar Puteh/Safitri Alamsyah of Samudranagara, although on the following match they were defeated by Putra Tunggal/Nurul Wijaya of Samudranagara, which placed the Gadangese pair on the fourth placement and pushed their opponent into the third placement. The following matches saw the pair delivering relatively better performances, which eventually led them to win 6 of 9 matches at the end of the competition.

Results of the national competition for Double category

Result for the last match

The second placement of the double category was occupied by a pair from the state of Labuan and Cempaka, Gadis Budiman/Salamah Kencana, who marked them as the best women’s double for the season. The pair’s performance was started with an upsetting result which saw the pair defeated and occupied the sixth place, followed by a chain of alternating defeats and victories, before the pair managed to end their performance for the season with a surprising and dramatic victory against the current first placement. On the other hand, three pairs consisting of Anwar Puteh/Safitri Alamsyah and twin pair Hasan Dwi Nasution/Hussein Arif Nasution from Samudranagara as well as Karina Jambek/Rosmah Setiawan from Gadang jointly occupied the third position, with the first pair being the highest mixed-double pair on the placement. While Anwar Puteh/Safitri Alamsyah managed to won their first and second matches that placed them in the first placement, their unexpected defeat by Gadis Budiman/Salamah Kencana has ended their string of victory, which is then followed by alternating defeats and victories before the pair managed to end their last match with a victory over the pair Hasan Dwi Nasution/Hussein Arif Nasution. The overall performance of the Nasution twins themselves follow a not-so different trajectory, with earlier strong performance, albeit theirs were unfortunately ended with a defeat.

The pair Karina Jambek/Rosmah Setiawan, however, have their performance in the competition started off with bad results, before they unexpectedly started going strong in the middle and last part of the event, with their last match being a victory against the pair Yanuar Karim/Elly Palinggam. Alas, these results are not enough to get them a higher position in the placement…

“Oh, hey sis, been a long time, right?”

Abruptly broken by the surprise of hearing the voice, the girl’s attention quickly snapped towards the tall, tan young man with messy-looking hair who is standing before her with a grin while dragging a suitcase with his right hand. The glasses-wearing girl smiled before she put the tabloid on the seat beside her and went to hug the other. Indeed, it has been long ever since the last time she saw her older brother there when he went for a training in the state capital Palembang and then continued to Ujong to participate in the recently finished national championship. Speaking of national championship…

“You did great, bang.” The bespectacled girl said, letting go of her big brother who smiled back at her. “Fourth place is good too…”

Usman Demang just grinned at his younger sister, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly with his left hand, before he decided to change the topic. “Well….anyway, how long have you been waiting for me in the train station? You are…not waiting here by yourself only, right, Farah?” Real discreet, Usman.

Farah Demang just rolled her eyes and huffed, the girl crossed her arms on her chest in amusement as she looked back at her brother’s face. “Just…15 minutes ago, so you know, not really long. Also this train station of Bandar Nipah is safe for a woman like me to sit alone, brother. I’m a big girl now, you know?”

The older brother smirked, before he started to ruffle his younger sister’s hair as the latter shot him a glare in response. ‘Well, sure as a clam’, Usman thought as he continues to mess with Farah’s hair despite her indignant protests, ‘I do miss her’.

Posted: **Thu Dec 07, 2023 12:40 am**

Palembang, State of Samudranagara
Samudera Darussalam

Hundreds of kilometers away to the northeast from the coffeehouse that finds itself becoming the favorite haunt of a certain pair of teenagers, stood a modest-looking building, designed with a modern, non-descript architecture that one may find in other locations across the nation and even in wider Mandalanusa; it is as if the architect tried to make the building blend as much as it can with the multitudes of other building that make up the city of Palembang, royal capital as well as the second largest city of Samudera. Standing only three stories high, the building indeed doesn’t seem to stand out much from other buildings in this part of the city, save for the more spacious area that it occupies compared to several local businesses and offices that surround it. The ones who are familiar with the place, however, will still be able to find it just fine.

That thought certainly crossed a certain man’s mind when he first arrived to work here, although a long time has gone by, and he is more preoccupied with other business that needs to be attended to. That’s why when the man gets his work laptop turned on and clicking on the link attached in the e-mail that he received yesterday for a teleconference, he quickly rushed to his office this morning, dressed in crisp white shirt and black pants, arriving 15 minutes before the scheduled online meeting.

Facing him on the screen are one of the vice-directors of FAS and several other managers of Samudera’s football clubs. The vice-director noticed that he has joined, but waited for a few minutes before he asked them to do a head counting. Everyone seems to be already there, however, but the man in white shirt would keep his mouth shut for the time being.

Afterwards, the vice-director, who also happened to be the director of operational of Liga Diraja, were doing a presentation about the proposed changes that are going to be implemented in the football league, including the formal adoption of the relegation-promotion system and the expansion of Liga Diraja to other football clubs in the country, with excepting the ones based in Labuan and Cempaka of course went unspoken. The man in the white shirt is still able to recall the….mess surrounding the overseas territory’s exit from the football league, and he involuntarily shivered. He decided that it will be better for him to pay better attention to what is being discussed in the online meeting.

‘This should be interesting.’

The man in white shirt is not surprised to hear the reasoning behind the proposal. Probably with the exception of Ujong City, the validity of performance of the other clubs in the league came under doubts, including Palembang United’s, despite the history of the football club as the second oldest club (to still exist) in the country. Those concerns are probably…..understandable, though the man himself doesn’t feel like there should be anything to be questioned about. Samuderan clubs are fairly inexperienced in playing against teams from overseas, and…probably they may have already getting used playing each other. It’s not exactly ideal. As such, the results from the recent IFCF competitions, coupled with the previous results of CMFA League, create a decent, if not perfect argument for the move. A new standard to increase competitiveness should be made, and starting it with the relegation-promotion system that has been adopted across the region by other football leagues seems like….not a terrible idea for a proposal, though he is not sure about the creation of some multi-association league. Whatever, he can always ask or read about it later.

Anything that could help increase the performance of his team should be welcomed. He doesn’t really care about potential sponsorships that…whatever this is would bring, though he probably should. At the moment, however, all he can think is how the performance of Palembang United could be improved, so the club might be an actual champion for once instead of the ‘forever runner-up’ as some on social media said. He wants Palembang United’s chance to defeat Ujong City in the ranking to be better.

~~It’s not because he has a personal grudge with Ujong City’s own club manager. Certainly not.~~

Third season of Liga Pertama Diraja: worse for some, better for others?

The third season of Liga Diraja has just finished, and once again, the nation saw Ujong City managed to defend its title after it successfully managed to acquire more points at the end of the season through the results of its matches, despite the narrowing gap that it now has with other clubs such as Palembang United and Muara Nipah FA.

This season might be the worst one yet for the top three clubs of Liga Diraja, with Ujong City, Palembang United, and Muara Nipah FA seems to deliver worse performances compared to the previous season. While the latter two produced the similar amount of nine wins with the second season, Ujong City has only managed to score 9 wins compared to the previous season’s 11. More of the club’s performance now ended with a draw, including the surprising results from the matches that it had with Vita Melaka (Match Day 7), Martapura (Match Day 11), and Batu Jaya (Match Day 18). Speculations have arose whether this is caused by the absence of Deris Chaniago, Ujong City’s talented young goalkeeper and Tan Kian Gie, a prominent center-back who also plays in the national team, because of injuries from the traffic accident that the team had got into two days before the start of the league championship. On the other hand, Palembang United has managed to keep its runner-up position with a total amount of 9 wins, 3 draws, and 6 losses, which caused it to be on par with Ujong City for its overall performance in this season. The same can be said for Muara Nipah FA, who similarly managed to maintain its third position in the ranking with a total amount of 9 wins, 2 draws, and 7 losses, a decrease in terms of statistics compared to the previous season when it managed to lose only 5 out of its 18 matches.

However, like the saying goes, “there is always a silver lining” and that can’t be truer for other clubs in the league. Batu Jaya, a football club based in the northeastern city that lend it its name, is one of the few, if not the most, team that managed to attract much of the attention due to its unexpectedly good performance in this season, despite being a newcomer after its inclusion into Liga Pertama Diraja. Beating West Saka FA to the fifth rank, Batu Jaya managed to score 8 wins and 3 draws out of the 18 matches that it has, including its dramatic 3-1 victory against the season’s champion Ujong City on the last day of the league championship, as well as other favorable outcomes that it previously gained during the matches against the season’s other top three performers, such as on Match Day 17 against Palembang United with a score of 2-3 and on Match Day 15 against Muara Nipah FA with the end score of 1-2. Other clubs that managed to improve their performances from the second season are West Saka FA and Martapura, with the former occupying the sixth placement and the latter eight placement on the ranking. After its worst performance during last season, West Saka FA has managed to double the amount of matches that it won, including the 3-4 victory it scored against its rival Muara Nipah FA on Match Day 9. Martapura, another newcomer to the league, has also managed to perform better, winning more and losing less matches albeit in a more subtle manner. Some of the more unexpected moments of the club including the one on Match Day 1 where it managed to win against Ujong City, and then forcing the latter into a draw on Match Day 11.

At the conclusion of the season, 180 matches were played, with a total of 333 goals were made (or the average of 1.85 per matches). The biggest away win for this season was made by several clubs, including Muara Nipah FA who managed to score a 2-5 win on Match Day 8 and Vita Melaka, who managed to score a 1-4 win on Match Day 13. The same goes for the biggest home win, which went to Palembang United, who managed to score a 3-0 win on Match Day 2 during its match against Muara Nipah FA, as well as towards West Saka FA, who also managed to get the same result during its match against Vita Melaka on Match Day 8.

The end of Liga Dua Diraja for this season saw Kotapandan managed to retake the first placement in the ranking after the club lost the position at the end of Match Day 2 following a series of rather upsetting matches with Pekan Industries and Taruna Muda. Defeating Dharmasraya with the end score of 3-1 on Match Day 17, Kotapandan finally succeeded in wresting the position from Pagarruyung FC, who previously had managed to maintain its position in the first placement throughout the middle of the season. The losses that the latter group suffered, however, had caused it to fall right to the sixth placement, and by the end of Liga Dua, Pagarruyung FC occupied the eight rank following its last match that ended with a draw.

With 13 wins and 3 draws out of 22 matches in total, Kotapandan has succeeded to become this season’s champion, defeating the next club in the placement by 7 points. Sporting Muara, the club in question, finished with a runner-up position after its last match that saw the team scoring a victory against Dharmasraya with the end score of 2-4, adding a final tally of 9 wins and 8 draws at the end of the season. Compared to Kotapandan, Sporting Muara has managed to maintain a somewhat stable placement in the rankings, never getting out of the top fifth placement until the end of the league championship and even managed to be placed first for a brief period during the early days of the season.

The third and fourth positions went to Palembang Galaxy and Badan Polisi Persekutuan Samudera (BPPS) FC, who ended the season with basically the same amount of wins, draws, and points received, although Palembang Galaxy seems to have managed to stop more goals from being made against it. With its performance in this season, however, it seems that it will be a long day to go for Palembang Galaxy before it can follow in its local counterpart, Palembang United, to play in the Liga Pertama Diraja. The worst performance for this season went to Palinggam FC, who only managed to score 5 wins out of 22 matches, though it also managed to surprise the audience with several unexpected results, such as when it succeeded to win its match with Sporting Muara on Match Day 6 with the end score of 2-3.

Promotion and Relegation

Following the announcement of the league’s official full adoption of the relegation and promotion system, the results of the last season’s league championships, consisting of both Liga Pertama and Liga Dua Diraja, have been thoroughly analyzed and reviewed. As such, the league has seen it fit to promote the two top performers in Liga Dua for this season, Kotapandan and Sporting Muara, to play in Liga Pertama in order to promote competitiveness among clubs and to invite new talents to play in the league, as lined in the league’s new policy. On the other hand, with considerations paid to the other two seasons that have been played before this, the league has reluctantly made an uneasy decision to relegate two clubs that occupied the bottom ranks in Liga Pertama of this season to Liga Dua, hoping with sincere hearts that FC Putera and Vita Melaka will be able to find their home here and improve their performance for the next season.

Posted: **Fri Dec 08, 2023 1:16 am**

A Compendium: The Five Top Performers of This Season

Ujong City FC

Nicknames: The City Boys
Ground: Gadang Superdome (Capacity: 37,500)
Manager: Manuel Pratama
Last season: 1
League titles: 3

Hailing from the state of Gadang in the southern part of Peninsular Samudera, “the City Boys” boasts itself as one of the oldest and most well-established team in the country, being founded years before Samudera proclaimed its independence in March 1960, and naturally was a founding member of Liga Diraja. Based in the country’s largest city and main economic hub that also lends its name to the football team, Ujong City has so far maintained its position as the best performing club in the league, having won 3 league championship titles in 3 consecutive seasons, as well as achieving the runner-up position in the CMFA League Championship upon its debut; the only Samuderan club that managed to do so for the time being. With a playing style that is considered as “cautious, bolstering up defenses while not shying away from attacking”, it is the football club where many of Samuderan national team members belonged to: ranging from the national team’s very own captain Zulfikar Ulakan, to its main goalkeeper Deris Chaniago.

While so far the club has remained…complacent, for the most part, it needs to start scooping out competitors as the latest season suggests that many of the teams, even the new ones, have improved their game on the field, catching Ujong City blindsided a few times.

Palembang United

Nicknames: The Princes
Ground: Bukit Asam Stadium (Capacity: 24,000)
Manager: Nasrul Sumanik
Last season: 2

Energetic, ambitious…there are maybe more than a few words that can be used to describe this particular club who also happens to be one of the oldest Samuderan football clubs next to Ujong City. Coming from Palembang, state capital of Samudranagara, Samudera’s second largest city, as well as the country’s royal capital – something that becomes one of the main inspirations for the team’s nickname – it’s said that its drive for success mostly derives from the club’s (half of it is one-sided) rivalry with Ujong City, who always come on top ever since the start of the league, relegating the runner-up position to Palembang United several times in a row that only serves to inflame the fire in the team’s (and its supporters’) heart with each season. Possessing a considerably aggressive style – compared to Ujong City, at least – the team places more emphasis on attack, a trait that it shares with another football club that has also recently rose to the top 3 position. In terms of performance, Palembang United is the second best team in the league in general, serving as home for several known members of the Samuderan National Team, including centre-back Guruh Setiawan and midfielder Fakhruddin Ahmed Barre.

Muara Nipah FA

Nicknames: Black Swann
Ground: MUARA-Nipah Arena (Capacity: 15,000)
Manager: Khairuddin Alatas
Last season: 3

The last of the “Big 3 of Liga Diraja”, Muara Nipah Football Association, often shortened to Muara Nipah or Muara Nipah FA is a football team hailing from the resource-rich city of Bandar Nipah on the eastern coast of Peninsular Samudera. Originally founded as a sports club by workers of the Samuderan multinational energy company Minyak, Pelumas, dan Gas Samudera (MUARA), the team quickly rose to prominence and becomes one of the more well-established clubs at the end of the third season, having managed to maintain its placement on the third rank. Famous – or infamous, depending on whom – for its rivalry with West Saka FA, Muara Nipah has succeeded in keeping a steady superiority in terms of performance over the last two seasons, something that is also contributed with the influx of several players from West Saka FA itself and other football clubs of the surrounding regions into the team. Nevertheless, the team’s usual aggressive style of playing might also become one of the main benefactors, as the team developed that strategy to deal with players of West Saka FA, who are also known to employ that style of playing in football matches. One of its more well-known players is Rafiq Dwi Palang, who is a part of the Samuderan National Team.

Ayer Warriors

Nicknames: The Warriors
Ground: Tenggiri Arena (Capacity: 3,600)
Manager: Junaedi Putra Arifin
Last season: 4

No team has made a bigger splash than Ayer Warriors, a comparatively new team that has made a name for itself when it first joined Liga Pertama Diraja after being promoted from Liga Dua, with the football club quickly reserves a spot for itself in the top five placement of the ranking at the end of the second and third seasons. Hailing from the small fishing town of Kampung Tenggiri in eastern Samudranagara, the team took its name from the ancient Ayer region where their homeland is located in. While the team places slightly more importance on attacking, Ayer Warriors has also been known to employ a game style that is also cautious when it comes to defense, a characteristic that is not that much different from Ujong City. Its rapid advancement has made the team to been seen as a rising star within the league, and not few have predicted that the club will take one of the spots in the top 3 ranking sooner or later. Some of its players have also been recruited to play as part of the Samuderan National Team on international stage, such as the team’s captain Elang Assegaf, who holds the position as a defender in the national team.

Batu Jaya

Nicknames: Red Lightning
Ground: Batu Jaya Stadium (Capacity: 13,000)
Manager: Leman Kurniawan
Last season: 5

Seemingly another rising star in the league, Batu Jaya follows in Ayer Warriors’ footsteps as another football club from the relatively new additions to the league that managed to start making a name for itself from to the attention that it gained from its drastic jump to the fifth placement from the bottom rank that it occupied in the second season. Based in the relatively calm, light industry-dominated city of Batu Jaya in northeastern Mainland Samudera, the team is known as the only other one in Liga Pertama Diraja to be owned by a major company other than Muara Nipah FA – in this case, the Samuderan multinational power company Matahari, who also runs the nuclear reactor in Batu Jaya, is listed as the owner of the group. Nicknamed as “Red Lightning” due to the red-colored lightning symbol on their kits, the football club seems to employ a game style that pays equal attention to both defense and attack; one of the few clubs in Liga Pertama to do so.

Who are these new additions to the Liga Pertama Diraja?

Kotapandan

Nicknames: Sons of Pandan
Ground: Jati Arena (Capacity: 8,000)
Manager: Sulong Muhammad

Based in the agricultural and fishing town of Kotapandan, a transport hub for the mostly rural southern localities of the state of Samudranagara, it is a football club known by the nickname “Sons of Pandan” due to the pandanus palm tree symbol on their kits. The team has managed to astound viewers with their performance in Liga Dua Diraja, having managed to become the champion of the league over Sporting Muara, who becomes an early favourite in the last season. Its promotion to Liga Pertama will provide a chance for the team to face off against Ayer Warriors, a club that is based in a town not too far away to the north from Kotapandan.

Sporting Muara

Nicknames: The Stallions
Ground: Muara Sports Complex (MUSCOM) Stadium (Capacity: 10,000)
Manager: Adnan Sani Leong

Steady and ever forward, the Gadang-based club has managed to won the audience of Liga Dua Diraja with their performance throughout the season, always managing to stay within the top 5 and later top 3 placement in the ranking albeit the club unexpectedly ended only as a runner-up at the end of the season. Their past performance in Liga Dua certainly leaves the group with many notes about what should be addressed for their next match in Liga Pertama, mainly about their rather shaky possession of the ball on the field. Nonetheless, for the football team that comes from Muara, an industrial city that is located near central Peninsular Samudera, their last performance seems to have been enough to be promoted to play in the elite Liga Diraja, something that is desired among other teams in the second division league.

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