DOUBLE FLICK: Amin Rahim (left) and Razie Rahim, will represent Tenaga and KLHC respectively in the MHL Premier Division.KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) will be banking on a strong local outfit to defend their Malaysia Hockey League (MHF) Premier Division League title from Dec 17.
KLHC won the League title with a match to spare, but they finished with a bronze in the Overall battle.
And as a curtain raiser, KLHC will square off against Overall champions Tenaga Nasional in the Charity Shield on Dec 17.
“On paper, we have a strong local line-up with players who won silver in the Asian Games and also former internationals who are intent on making a comeback.
“However, looking at the player list of the other teams, especially those with foreign players, I feel it is going to be a very challenging tournament this year,” said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
Some of KLHC’s notable national players are Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Shahrun Nabil, Razie Rahim, Azlan Misron and goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin.
“In today’s game, good flickers and goalkeepers are an asset to win titles and I believe Tenaga Nasional have the best in the country. With (S.) Kumar in goal and Amin Rahim as a flicker, I believe Tenaga will be one of the early title contenders,” said Dharmaraj.
Last season, Tenaga won the Charity Shield as well at the Overall title and Kumar was named as the Best Goalkeeper, while Amin was the Tournament Top Scorer with 15 goals.
KLHC will also be fielding Ismail Abu, Megat Azrafiq, Kelvinder Singh and Chua Boon Huat who will be attempting to impress the national selectors again.
“Among all the former national players, I see Megat as the most improved and his dedication in training is excellent. I hope he will perform in the League, as he is still young and can make a come-back if he works hard enough.
“Kelvinder is still bogged down with injuries, while Ismail is a little rusty after a long lay-off,” said Dharmaraj.
Kelvinder, Ismail and Megat were team-mates in the 2005 Junior World Cup and went on to represent the national team but lost their touch to injuries and weight as well as disciplinary problems.
The nine teams in Premier Division are KLHC, Armed Forces-Airod, Maybank, Nur Insafi, Sapura, Tenaga, UiTM, UniKL and Yayasan Negri Sembilan.
KLHC Team: Roslan Jamaluddin (Gk), Kairulnizam Ibrahim (Gk), Baljit Singh Sarjab, Chua Boon Huat, Noor Faeez, S. Shanker, Shahrun Nabil, Harvinder Singh, Fitri Saari, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Azli Misron, Ismail Abu, Amerullah Aziz, Ahmad Anuar Sham, Azlan Misron (C), Nabil Fiqri, Razie Rahim, Sukri Mutalib, Kelvinder Singh, Megat Azrafiq, Sufian Mohamad, Hairulnizam Maizan.
Officials: Team Manager: George Koshy; Coach: K. Dhar maraj; Asst Coach: R. Vivekanandan.
