Tenaga looking much better

28/03/2002

TENAGA Nasional Bhd waited nine years before landing the elusive League
title last year, and with young blood injected into their normally-ageing
side, this year they will start as one of the favourites to make the
semifinals in the Malaysia Hockey League which begins this weekend.
Tenaga have recruited three national juniors - Azlan Misron, Nor Azlan
Rahim and Fairuz Ramli - and they now have a balanced side to go the
distance.
Tenaga also have national players Nor Azlan Bakar, Mohamed Madzli Ikmar
and Tajol Rosli and the country's third choice goalkeeper S. Kumar.
And with the balanced side Tenaga, who have been training for the past
one month, without the national players who had World Cup duty, they will
give the other top teams like defending overall champions Bank Simpanan
Nasional (BSN), Maybank, Anderson Sports Club and Sapura a run for their
money.
But since BSN (Pakistani's Sohail Abbas and Kashif Jawad) and Anderson
Sports Club (Indians Dhanraj Pillay and Len Ayappa) have hired guns in
their stables, coach K. Rajan felt that it is too early to make an
assessment of their strength.
Tenaga open their campaign this weekend against Sapura who are no
pushovers and have in their side national players S. Kuhan, K. Keevan Raj,
K. Logan Raj, Jiwa Mohan and Nasihin Nubli who are all fresh from a
gruelling World Cup experience.
Sapura also recruited Chua Boon Huat, but he will not be able to play in
the MHL this season because he will be playing in the German League. He
will be attached to Red and White Munich and the German League starts on
april 8.
Former national skipper Nor Saiful Zaini will be the steady and
experienced hand for the Tenaga players to look up to.
After the MHL ends, so will Nor Saiful's career as a hockey player.
The 35-year-old hitman who now plays in midfield and occasionally in
defence, will be turning to coaching next year but said he hopes to end
his career on a high by helping TNB win the double - League and Overall -
this year.
Tenaga Nasional: Manjit Singh, Lailin Abu Hassan, Kamaruddin Abdul
Rahman, Norazlan Rahim, Nor Azlan Bakar, Zaharin Zakariah, Madzli Ikmar,
Lawrence Steven, Tajol Rosli, M. Kaliswaran, S. Saravanan, Ranjit Singh,
Fairus Ramli, Syayrim Uda Karim, S. Kumar, Azlan Misron, Omar Hafiz
Rahmat, M. Nadarajan, Mahinder Singh.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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