Lack of quality teams killing League

26/04/2002

THE second round of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) begins this weekend
and by now fans would have a clear picture of which matches they would
like to stay away from.
For, after the end of the first round, the hockey divide in the MHL has
become very distinct. On the one side we have those who can play, and on
the other those who think they can.
Strangely, Maybank have been moving back and forth from both sides of
the divide.
The ones who have shown they can play hockey are Tenaga Nasional,
Andersen Sports Club, Sapura and Bank Simpanan Nasional.
The ones making up the numbers are Royal Malay Regiment (RMR),
Bumiputra-Commerce Bank, Jolly Lads Sports Club and Navy.
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) acknowledged the disparity in
standard but have run out of ideas on how to improve the League.
"We would like to turn it into a two-division League but where are we
going to get the teams from?
"As it stands, only nine teams have registered for the MHL and all the
teams are based in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor," said MHF secretary S.
Satgunam.
The club structure in the other States are either dead or slowly dying.
The fact that Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Perak, Johor and Penang have no
representatives in the MHL speaks volumes about the state of the MHL.
But surprisingly, four foreign players have agreed to play in the MHL
this season.
India's Len Ayappa and Dhanray Pillay are playing for Andersen Sports
Club while Pakistan's Sohail Abbas and Kashif Jawad for Bank Simpanan
Nasional have added colour to the MHL but their presence has not yet been
felt by table toppers Tenaga Nasional.
Tenaga, 100 per cent locally based, have ended the first round unbeaten
and look good to retain the league title this year. Their stout defence is
marshalled by former national skipper Nor Saiful Zaini and national
defender Nor Azlan Bakar and they have only let in eight goals in eight
matches.
Tenaga forwards, led by M.T. Kaliswaran, Mahinder Singh and Tajol Rosli
have scored 35 goals in the first round.
And coach K. Rajan was neither wrong nor right when he said that the
second round will be tougher because every team will be gunning for their
scalp.
Good for Tenaga, but not healthy for the MHL as very few teams will be
able to stop Tenaga. And it's not because the other teams are not playing
hard enough, but they just don't have the overall depth to do that.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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