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MALAYSIAN No 1 goalkeeper S. Kumar yesterday broke new ground when he was named as Asia’s Best Player by the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) at its Congress in Kuala Lumpur.
The 32-year-old from Tampin, Negri Sembilan, became the first Malaysian to win the award as before this Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin was awarded the Best Youth Player award by AHF.
However, it came as no surprise as Kumar has been named as the Best Goalkeeper in eight international tournaments.
Last year Kumar lost his father, Subramaniam, in the midst of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, but he went on to represent the country at the Asian Games leas than a month later, and helped Malaysia win a silver medal, their first ever in the Asiad.
“It is indeed a honour that I will cherish forever. I dedicate this award to my late father who encouraged me right from the beginning,” said Kumar.
“Without the sacrifices of my father, I will not be here today.
“My dream is to play at the Olympics and I will do my best to keep the goals away when we play in the Qualifiers,” said Kumar.
Meanwhile, AHF held their elections yesterday to elect four vice presidents as Sultan Azlan Shah was returned un opposed as president, while Tan Sri P. Alagendra also retained his secretary’s post unposed.
The four veeps who were elected yesterday were Datuk Sri Muneyoshi Ueda (Jpn), Chaiyapak Siriwat (Thai), Narinder Bahtra (India), Qasim Zia (Pak), while the two nominated vice-presidents were Shun Jung Hee and Hong Moon Pyo, both from South Korea.
AHF PLAYERS AWARDS: Man -- S. Kumar (Malaysia); Women: Park Mih Yun (S Kor); Boy: Syed Kashif Shah (Pakistan); Girl: Zhao Yudiao (China).
TENAGA Nasional edged Sapura 3-2 to top the Premier Division Standings of the Malaysia Hockey League at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
Tenaga's Faizal Saari scored two goals in the 14th and 40th minutes, while the other goal was scored by Amin Rahim in the 46th minute.
The Sapura goals were scored by Ahmad Kazamirul (31st) and Izwan Firdaus (48th).
In another match, Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC)stopped UniKL's unbeaten run by hiting four goals past them.
UniKL were unbeaten before yesterday, but after letting in two quick goals just before the half-time hooter, they collapsed.
Former international Chua Boon Huat took his personal tally to nine goals with a brace yesterday. He opened accounts with a penalty corner deflection in the 31st minute, and a minute later Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin made it 2-0 with a soft field attempt.
After the breather, Chua scored off another field attempt, while another soft touch from Azli Misron in the 67th minute gave the leaders a comfortable win.
"To beat an unbeaten side 4-0 is a great achievement, but in reality it was a close match as they also had their chances, but could not convert. I felt we did not play to our true potential, but still, the three points are what we were looking for," said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
UniKL coach Darren Smith lamented on the soft goals, which doused his team's fire.
"I expected to face a tough time against an outfit which has some of the best players in the country. However, we were guilty of letting in soft goals which made it difficult to bounce back in the second half," said Darren.
Yayasan Negri Sembilan won the battle of foreigners when they beat Nur Insafi 4-2 to be placed fourth on the standings.
YNS have 11 foreigners while Nur Insafi seven, but the quality of play was way below standard.
Prabhjot Singh, from India, saved the blushes for YNS by scoring all four goals in the 40th, 49th, 61st and 65th minutes to bring his tally to nine goals. The Nur Insafi goals were scored by Kashif Ali in the 54th and 68th minutes.
RESULTS: UniKL 0 Kuala Lumpur HC 4, Nur Insafi 2 Yayasan Negri Sembilan 4, Sapura 2 Tenaga Nasional 3, UiTM 2 Armed Forces-Airod 3.
Division One -- Sunday: Bukit Jalil SS v Ipoh City Council (Pantai Ministry Stadium, 5pm), Malacca CC v Bandar Pe nawar SS (Malacca Stadium, 5pm), Universiti Sains Malaysia v Armed Forces Juniors (USM, 5pm).
PREMIER DIVISION: Tuesday -- UiTm v Kuala Lumpur HC (Tun Razak Stadium, 5.30pm).
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pt
TNB 7 5 1 1 16 7 16
KLHC 6 5 0 1 26 10 15
UNIKL-TRC 6 4 1 1 9 9 13
YNS 6 4 0 2 24 14 12
NUR INSAFI 6 3 0 3 12 17 9
SAPURA 6 2 0 4 16 16 6
MAYBANK 6 1 2 3 4 9 5
ATM-AIROD 6 1 0 5 8 23 3
UITM 5 0 0 5 8 18 0
DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 3 3 0 0 8 2 9
IPOH CH 4 2 1 1 11 8 7
BJSS 3 2 0 1 7 3 6
BPSS 3 2 0 1 7 5 6
USM 5 2 0 3 8 14 6
MALACCA CC 4 1 0 3 4 6 3
UNITEN 4 0 1 3 2 9 1
MALAYSIAN No 1 goalkeeper S. Kumar yesterday broke new ground when he was named as Asia’s Best Player by the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) at its Congress in Kuala Lumpur.
