Friday, May 21, 2010

Thunderbolt strike paydirt

BANDAR Penawar Sports School-Thunderbolt snatched the MHF-Milo-NSC
Division One title from the grips of newcomers UniKL when they scored
the equaliser with 30 seconds remaining in the match.
The title-battle ended 1-1, but Thunderbolt had 22 points from eight
matches, while UniKL had only 20 to show.
It was the first Division One League title for Bandar Penawar, who made
their debut in 2004.
"I can't ask for more from my players, as we controlled the match but
just failed to score. It was a great show from my boys, who trained for
only one month, against a sports school outfit," said UniKL coach I.
Vickneswaran.
Thunderbolt coach Wan Roslan Rahman said: "We only came to live in
the last five minutes, and it was a lucky goal scored 30 seconds from time.
However, a win is a win, and now we look foward to the knock-out stage."
The first half was a drab affair, as most of the play was centred around
midfield and players from both sides could not even trap the ball properly.
UniKL had a handful of chances, but poor shooting saw them entering
the dressing room without scoring.
BPSS-Thunderbolt won the only penalty corner of the half in the 32nd
minute, and all eyes were on national player Faizal Saari. However, the
chance was wasted as the stopper failed to trap the ball.
Faizal got his chance in the 40th minute, when Thunderbolt won their
second panalty corner, but his powerful drag-flick hit the post and went
crashing out.
UniKL upped the tempo and received their first penalty corner in the
45th minute, but the flick by Sabri Mohamed sailed over the bar.
There were plenty or near misses after that, but no goals to show as the
clocked showed eight more minutes ramaining for Thunderbolt to be
declared as the new champions.
However, the game suddenly came to live in the last five minutes of the
match, as UniKL went looking for the elusive goal.
And in the 67th minute, Hizzat Sumantri connected home a cross and
suddenly, the title looked like it belonged to the newcomers.
But tragedy struck, with 30 seconds to regulation time, when
Thunderbolt went on the attack and a cross from Nazrin Yahya was
connected home by Fariq Saadon and the southern sports school players
finally hit paydirt.
RESULTS: Division One -- Bukit Jalil Sports School 5 MWHA 1, UniKL 1
Thunderbolt 1; Division Two: Ipoh City Council 2 Pahang 3, Datuk Taha 4
Penang Frees 4.
SUNDAY: Division Two: Sabah v Penang Frees (Pandamaran, 5pm).

DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pts
THUNDERBOLT 8 7 1 0 37 6 22
UNIKL 8 6 2 0 33 8 20
BJSS 8 5 2 1 24 7 17
PJCC 8 4 1 3 20 15 13
BPSS JUNIORS 8 3 1 4 12 16 10
ANDERSON 8 3 1 4 14 28 10
KELANTAN 8 1 3 4 11 34 6
BJSS JUNIORS 8 1 1 6 5 25 4
MWHA 8 0 0 8 8 25 0

DIVISION TWO

P W D L F A Pts
SABAH 7 6 0 1 32 7 18
PAHANG 8 7 0 1 33 14 21
IPOH CC 8 5 2 1 24 8 17
TBSS 8 4 2 2 23 11 14
MATRI 8 3 1 4 14 14 10
FREES 7 2 3 2 19 18 9
DATUK TAHA 8 1 2 5 13 30 5
SELANGOR 8 1 0 7 6 45 3
JOHOR 8 0 2 6 12 29 2

Mines on a Tiger hunt

By Jugjet Singh

THE Mines Resort and Golf Club might see the return of Tiger Woods, whose last sighting there in 1999 earned him the World Cup stripes together with Mark O’Meara.

The Tiger bait is US$6 million CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, which is part of the US PGA Tour.
Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, founder of the Mines City, was optimistic yesterday that the World No 1 might make a comeback to Malaysia.
“Woods is on the trail of making a comeback, and I feel he would be among the 40 golfers who will be at the Mines. Anyway, I would be personally writing to him soon because I am sure his fans in Asia would want to watch him play here again,” said Lee.
And the good part is, according to Lee, sanctioning fee would be out of the picture.
“The last time we had to pay a sanctioning fee to get him here, but with the tournament being part of the PGA Tour, if he comes, it will purely be on merit. And another good news is that we will be hosting the tournament for the next seven years, and if not this year, I am sure Tiger will come in the near future,” said Lee.
The tournament will be held on Oct 28-31 with no halfway cut as only 40 golfers will be involved.
The top 25 available PGA Tour players from the FedExCup standing, the top 10 from the Asian Tour and five sponsor exemptions will make-up the cast.
Yesterday Steve Wenzloff, the PGA Tour vice-president Design Services and Player Liaison, visited the course to start some minor changes to the Mines.
“The overall appearance and conditions of the golf course is good. However, a few minor adjustments are being recommended to restore aspects of the original design with the intent of making it more interesting and elevate the stature of the facility,” said Wenzloff.
Other than the World Cup, the Mines has hosted the 2000 Women’s World Cup and the 2003 Malaysian Open.