Namesh Singh is King

Kuala Lumpur’s Syawal Zakaria raises his stick towards a Selangor player in their match at Seremban II Stadium yesterday. Selangor won 1 - 0. — Pic: OWEE AH CHUN

DEFENDING champions Kuala Lumpur suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Selangor in the National Under-16 tournament curtain raiser at the Seremban II Stadium yesterday.

Selangor's hero was Namesh Singh who scored a field goal in the 13th minute which was enough to upset Kuala Lumpur in the Group A match.
In another Group A match, Perak, who finished fourth last year, hammered Pahang 5-1 to make their intentions clear.
"Namesh plays for Petaling Jaya City Council in the Malaysia Hockey League and he delivered when it mattered as we were looking for a good start," said Selangor coach Paul Raj.
Selangor meet Perak today and Raj added: "Perak are the early favourites because this set of boys were the Under-14 champions, and they have shown great understanding against Pahang today (yesterday).
"It will be a difficult match, but if the boys follow instructions like they did today, we have a good chance."
Perak's Dzahiruddin Ilyas scored in the seventh, ninth, and 34th minutes to complete a hat-trick and put his side in a commanding position.
Perak's other goals were scored by Hanif Saidin (57th) and Shazli Irwan (61st).
Pahang's consolation goal was scored by Hafiz Zainol in the 39th minute.
In a Group B match, Kedah could only muster a 2-2 draw against Singapore. Kedah took a 2-0 lead with goals from Farid Zuki (eighth) and Afdazanizam Nazian (56th) but could not hold onto their advantage and allowed Singapore to score through their skipper Azahari Osman in the 68th and 70th minutes.
RESULTS -- Group A: Kelantan 3 Perlis 2, Pahang 1 Perak 5, Kuala Lumpur 0 Selangor 1; Group B: Johor 1 Terengganu 3, Kedah 2 Singapore 2, Negri Sembilan 2 Penang 5.
TODAY -- Group A: Selangor v Perak, Kuala Lumpur v Perlis, Kelantan v Pahang.
Group B: Terengganu v Penang, Johor v Singapore, Negri Sembilan v Kedah.

GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
Perak 1 1 0 0 5 1 3
Kelantan 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
Selangor 1 1 0 0 1 0 3
Perlis 1 0 0 1 2 3 0
K Lumpur 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
Pahang 1 0 0 1 1 5 0

Group B
P W D L F A Pts
Penang 1 1 0 0 5 2 3
Terengganu. 1 1 0 0 3 1 3
Kedah 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
Singapore 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
Johor 1 0 0 1 1 3 0
N Sembilan 1 0 0 1 2 5 0

Juniors hit Sixer into Singapore

Hard knock: Malaysia’s Azreen Rizal Nasir (right) takes a hit from Singapore’s Haikal Eiman Supaat during their third-place playoff match yesterday. Malaysia won 6-0. — ABDUL RAHMAN EMBONG / The Star

THE National Juniors finally impressed when they hammered Singapore 6-0 in the placing match of the Four-Nation Invitational tournament at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru yesterday. In the pool match, Malaysia could only edge Singapore 2-1.
Malaysia's goals yesterday came via Jamil Saidin (sixth, 20th), Azammi Adabi (23rd), Harvinder Singh (24th), Izwan Firdaus (45th) and Marhan Jalil (47th).
"Today (yesterday) my boys showed urgency and speed and totally blanked out Singapore," said Juniors coach K. Rajan.
"I see this as a good sign as they showed a good comeback after a poor display in the pool match (against Singapore).
"Now, they will have to up the tempo in the remaining friendly matches before the Junior World Cup."
Malaysia and Singapore will co-host the Junior World Cup on June 7-21.
Meanwhile, in yesterday's final, Pakistan beat India 3-2 in sudden death after the teams were 2-2 at full time.
India, who had beaten the same opponents 3-1 in the round-robin match on Friday, twice went ahead through Mandeep Antil in the 22nd and 47th minutes only for Pakistan to level through Abdul Haseem (37th minute) and Muhammad Zubair (67th) to force extra-time.
Abdul Haseem Khan scored a 73rd minute golden goal to seal the title.