Saturday, May 15, 2010

Malaysia play for bronze

FINAL STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts

INDIA 6 4 1 1 21 14 13
KOREA 6 3 2 1 20 11 11 +9
AUSTRALIA 6 3 2 1 20 12 11 +8
MALAYSIA 6 3 2 1 17 9 11 +8
PAKISTAN 6 2 2 2 24 20 8
CHINA 6 1 1 4 12 19 4
EGYPT 6 0 0 6 4 33 0


RESULTS: Australia 4 China 0, South Korea 4 Pakistan 2, India 7 Egypt 1.
TODAY: Final -- India v South Korea (8.05pm); Third-Fourth: Malaysia v Australia (6.05pm); Fifth-Sixth: Pakistan v China (3.35pm).

India-Korea Azlan Shah Final

THERE was utter confusion in the final pool matches, and the air only cleared when India beat Egypt 7-1 in the last pool match of the 19th Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh last night.
India will play South Korea in the final, while Malaysia will battle for the bronze against Australia.
The day started with Australia beating China 4-0, and achieving their four goal target to play in the final, and then Pakistan and South Korea walked onto the pitch, with both sides needing to win by two goals to shut the door on Australia.
The score stood at 2-2 by the 57th minute, and there was super hockey being played by players from both sides.
However, mayhem errupted when Irish umpire Warren McCully awarded a penalty stroke to South Korea in the 66th minute, and the Pakistan team protested and there was a 15-minute stoppage as umpires and officials tried to get the Gren Shirts to resume the match.
Pakistan skipper Muhammad Imran was flashed the green, then yellow and finally the red card and sent off for protesting the stroke. Aamir Shahzad also received the red card, while two Koreans were flashed the yellow in the remaining tensed minutes of the match.
Instead of playing in the final, Pakistan will play China in the fifth-sixth classification match as they lost their cool and then the match 4-2.
"I can take mistakes in umpiring, but not blunders which left my young players in tears," said Pakistan team manager K.M. Junaid while showing the press video evidence which disputed the penalty stroke.
"We travelled thousands of kilometres and spent a lot of money for this tournament, and it is sad that we did not get to play in the final because of bad umpiring.
"We are here to play hockey, and not train umpires who are looking for an upgrade," lamented Junaid.
Malaysian team manager George Koshy, while rueing the lost chance to play in the final on goal difference, was optimistic that his charges will give Australia a run for their money.
"We only lost to them 2-1 in the pool match, and there were plenty of instances in that match where we could have even won it. So, I am confident that my players will give their best and it would be good to finish with a medal," said George.

UniKL a step away from title

NEWCOMERS UniKL further consolidated their chances of winning the Division One MHF-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League title when they beat Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) Juniors 3-1 in a rain postponed match yesterday.
Both the teams were supposed to play on Friday, but the match was washed off by heavy rain and they completed their fixtures yesterday.
UniKL got their goals off Syamim Yusof (15th), Sabri Mohamed (23rd) and Amir Farid (62nd). Shahril Saabah (45th) scored the BPSS Juniors goal.
UniKL are just one match away from winning the title, as they have 19 points from seven matches and play their final fixtures against Bandar Penawar Sports School Thunderbolt at the KLHA Stadium on May 21.
Thunderbolt have maximum points from six matches and play the Malaysian Women's National team (MWHA) in Seremban today.
UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran said: "It’s our debut season and we just one win away from creating history. We have five days to train and will give our best against Thunderbolt."
RESULTS: UniKL 3 BPSS Juniors 1.
TODAY: Division One: BPSS Juniors v Kelantan (Bandar Penawar Stadium, 5pm); MWHA v Thunderbolt (Seremban II, 5pm).
Division Two: Matri vs Kuala Selangor (Kangar, 5pm).

Mayhem as Korea enter final

THERE was drama, plenty of it in the Pakistan and Korea match and in the end Korea prevailed to make the final with a 4-2 win.
Both teams had to win by two clear goals to progress into the final at the expense of Australia.
Pakistan went ahead in the 31st minute when Mohamad Zubair scored after a botched penalty corner attempt by skipper Muhammad Imran. The ball was played out of the semi circle by Muhammad Touseeq who relayed it to Zubair at the far post to knock it in.
At that stage Pakistan needed another goal to progress into the final. But Korea came charging out in the second half and equalized via Lee Nam Yong in the 38th minute.
Korea were awarded a penalty stroke in the 46th minute and Nam Yong easily put the ball past Imran Shah, and now it was Korea who needed another goal to make the final.
However Pakistan came fighting back and Imran sent in a low flick off their sixth penalty corner in the 55th minute to tie the match at 2-2.
In the 66th minute the situation turned chaotic as umpire Warren McCully awarded a penalty stroke to Korea. The Pakistanis protested and in the melee yellow and red cards were shown. Pakistan players refused to continue and manager Khajawa Junaid was seen discussing the issue with Daljit Singh, the Technical Official from Malaysia.
Imran was shown all three cards, green, yellow and red by McCully and it further aggravated the situation as far as Pakistan was concerned.
Tournament Director Paul Richards then stepped in and by that time the match had been stopped for well over five minutes.
After the fracas, Nam Hyun Woo scored from the spot to put Korea 3-2 ahead and they needed just one more goal, playing against the ten men Pakistani side.
Fareed Ahmad was shown the yellow in the 67th minute after Korea were awarded a penalty corner and Hyun Woo scored with two minutes on the clock.
Korea’s Ro Jong Hwan was then sent to the sin bin with less then two minutes remaining and Aamir Shazad joined his captain on the red card list with one minute remaining.

Four enough for Aussies

By Azlanshahcup.com

AUSTRALIA defeated China 4-0 and will now await the Pakistan and Korea match to see if they make the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
Their margin of win, four goals saw them oust Malaysia from being in contention for a place in the final.
And now the Aussies will have to wait for the outcome of the Pakistan/Korea match and a win by two clear goals by either team will see Australia out.
Australia got off to a perfect start when Kieran Govers fired home a penalty corner in the 3rd minute.
They doubled their advantage in the 21st minute, with Govers netting his second of the day as the Chinese seem to be more affected by the heat then the Australians.
Govers could have completed his hattrick in the 34th minute but missed from six yards out and at the break Australia led 2-0.
China created two good chances early on in the second half but muffed them both. And Australia took full advantage to force their third penalty corner in the 43rd minute.
But Chirstopher Ciriello’s attempt was pushed out by Si Rifeng. And in the 45th minute, once again Rufeng kept Ciriello at bay with a diving save.
Ciriello finally got it right in the 50th minute when his low drive beat Rufeng all the way. And in the very next minute Grant Schubert made it 4-0 .