Jolly Lads saddened by loss of Jayhan and Ho

25/03/2002

JOLLY Lads Hockey Sports Club, who will be making their debut in the
Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) starting this Friday, are anything but
"jolly" as they aim to show that they are dead serious about developing
their handful of juniors.
But even before the first whistle is blown, Jolly Lads are in a sad
predicament - their junior hope Ho Kok On, a Perak and Anderson player -
fractured his thumb while training taking penalty corners. He will be out
for two weeks.
They are also not certain about former international Brian Jayhan Siva,
now a doctor, who is believed to be going to Singapore then on to Scotland
to further his medical training.
"We are in a catch-22 situation. One of our promising juniors, Ho,
injured his thumb and we are still not sure if he will recover in time,"
said a worried team manager Mohinder Singh.
"But we have back-up players and if he (Ho) is not ready, we will field
another young player."
At the team manager's meeting on Saturday, Jolly Lads tried to extend
the closing date for entries but the Malaysian Hockey Federation rejected
their request, which means they are stuck with the players they have
registered.
The other player who picked up an injury is Charles Aitken David. He
will be replaced by promising junior Harvinder Singh.
"As for Bryan, we are still hoping he will be able to stay for the
duration of the league but if he is isn't able to, we will be in a spot
again," said Mohinder.
The last time Jayhan donned national colours was in the 1996 Atlanta
Olympics. He has since disappeared from the hockey scene to concentrate on
his job.
The original Jolly Lads play in the KL Hockey League but after being
approached by former international R. Shanker, the club agreed to lend
their name to the motley-crew outfit.
Now they are hoping their juniors Ho, M. Neruji, Harvinder and Hasmadi
Ismail will break into the national ranks.
"That is our mission. We hope to give the juniors exposure and hopefully
they will impress the national selectors enough to be selected for the
national squad," said Mohinder.
The other seasoned players in the team are Kerpal Singh and Aphtar
Singh.
The squad: Faizul Baki, Saravanan Kanu, Surinder Singh, Kerpal Singh,
Thevadas Maniam, Harvinder Singh, Daniel Kassim, Brian Jayhan Siva, Chitti
Babu, Simon Matthew, Rosdi Pilus, Aphtar Singh, Sivanantha Prasad, M.
Neruji, Zainal Ariffin Idris, Jaspal Singh, R. Shankar, Ravikumaran
Suppiah, Hasmadi Ismail, Nor Azmi Abu Samah.
Manager: Mohinder Singh; Stand-In-Manager: Jasvinder Singh; Coach:
Phapinder Singh; Doctor: Dr Baljinder Singh.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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