Selvaraju sees red

13/07/2002

PRAI MC 4 SYNERGY HC 0
TELEKOM PAHANG 6 DATUK TAHA 1
ANDERSON 2 MALAYSIA SS 1
SERDANG 10 TAIPING HA 1
MSSKL 0 TERENGGANU 3
MALAYSIAN hockey dipped to a new low yesterday during the SMK Anderson-
Malaysia Sports School match at the Tun Razak Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
The first embarrassing act went unnoticed right under the noses of
Malaysian Hockey Federation Umpires Board (MHFUB) top brass, and the
second was when a Malaysia SS player was shown the first red card of the
MHF-Milo-Admiral-NSC Junior League.
MHFUB chairman V. Kulasingam and his secretary Teo Choon Seng sat at the
technical desk yesterday but did not even lift a finger when an
unidentified man jogged around the Tun Razak artificial pitch during the
match.
The man was running on the turf (along the perimeter white line) and he
did more than 10 laps, and during each lap, he ran right in front of the
technical desk where Kulasingam and Teo were siting.
The man even obstructed the ball boys, who had to dodge him while
picking balls but he was never stopped. Maybe the MHFUB has changed the
rules of the game to allow joggers to run on the turf while a match was
under progress, but they could not inform the Press because there was a
blanket gag order on all MHF officials.
Back to the match, Malaysia SS player S. Selvaraju, a promising national
trainee, did the unthinkable in junior hockey when he challenged umpire
Balbeer Singh's decision and then threw his stick on the turf. He was
shown the red card and the feeling among hockey officials was that "he
should be dealt with severely to teach him the basics of the sport while
he is still young."
Malaysia SS not only lost one good player but also threw away a vital
match when they lost 2-1 to Anderson. Malaysia SS took the lead in the
34th minute when Selvaraju scored off a penalty corner in the 34th minute.
But the situation was summed up by their coach V. Muraleedharan when he
said "the boys lost their head" and allowed Fazreen Eksan (53rd minute)
and Hafifi Hafiz (65th) to score.
o AT the Malacca Hockey Stadium, Telekom Pahang scored a sixer against
SMK Datuk Taha with goals from Mohamed Izuan (seventh, 23rd), Mohamed Al-
Fadhir (11th, 15th, 65th) and Wan Nor Hisham (27th).
Taha's consolation penalty stroke was scored by S. Muniandy in the 64th
minute.
Today: Penang Indians Sports Club v Perak Malays Hockey Association
(Seberang Prai Stadium, 5.15pm); Sultan Abu Bakar College v Tenaga
Nasional Bhd (Johor Hockey Stadium, 5.15pm); Krian Hockey Association v
Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (Azlan Shah Stadium I, 5.30pm); Armed
Forces Apprentice Training School v Olak-MPK (Tun Razak Stadium, 6pm);
Malay Mail v Ipoh City Council (Tun Razak Stadium, 8pm).
Tomorrow: Telekom Pahang v Malaysia Sports School (Kuantan Stadium,
5.15pm); Anderson v SMK Datuk Taha (Azlan Shah Stadium I, 5.30pm); Synergy
Hockey Club v MSSKL (Pandamaran Stadium, 5.30pm); Serdang Hockey Club v
Johor Sports Council (National Hockey Stadium, 5.30pm); Terengganu Sports
Council v Seberang Prai Municipal Council (Terengganu Stadium, 5.30pm).
ends/