FAIZAL Saari in action during the Malaysia-Singapore Junior World Cup.
FAIZAL Saari in action during the Malaysia-Singapore Junior World Cup where he scored eight goals.BANDAR Penawar-Thunderbolt made a huge impact in their opening 5-1 win in Division One of the MHF-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League, and are now looking to keep a clean slate this season.
The sports school beat their juniors in the curtain raiser on Friday, and their main draw-card was national player Faizal Saari who scored two goals.
Faizal, who has experience playing in the Junior World Cup where he scored eight goals, as well as with the senior team in the World Cup Qualifier where he scored three goals, is now BPSS-Thunderbolt skipper.
National team manager George Koshy said Faizal is the only under-19 player in the senior training squad, and he has been released to play for Thunderbolt.
“Thunderbolt (Tenaga Nasional) are his employees and they made a request for Faizal to play in the JHL and we agreed to release him. No other player in the senior training squad is eligible to play in the under-19 tournament,” said Koshy.
BPSS-Thunderbolt coach Wan Roslan Rahman said they are reaping the fruits of allowing their boys to play in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) this season.
“We combined with Tenaga Nasional on a long-term partnership to expose our students and I believe in the long run, this project will benefit the country.
“This year, our boys (BPSS) turned out for UniKL and Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club in the MHL and their experience showed in our opening match,” said Wan Roslan.
Today, BPSS-Thunderbolt play Petaling Jaya City Council and the outcome is quite predictable.
“We want to will all our matches, and lift the title without dropping any points. And I believe my players have enough experience to turn this target into a reality,” said Wanm Roslan.
Tenaga Nasional provided three players for the Thun derbolt team, including Faizal, who is a former BPSS student. The rest are students from the southern sports school.
TODAY: Division One -- PJCC v BPSS Thunderbolt (Tun Razak Stadium, 4.30pm), Kelantan v UniKL (Kuala Tereng ganu Stadium).
Division Two: Matri v MBI-MSN (Kangar), TBSS v SML PP (Tampin), Sabah v Datuk Taha (Pandamaran).
Matches start at 5pm.
