You May Bank on Sapura

KLHC skipper Azlan Misron receiving the League trophy from Malacca governor Tan Sri Khalil Yaakob. Pictures from www.tnbmhl.com.my

SAPURA took it easy against Armed Forces-Airod but still won 5-1 in the final league match at the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League in Malacca yesterday.
However, they might lose an influential player for the quarter-finals stage to the Police force.
Even though the top-three positions were already sealed before the Malacca fixtures, but the quarter-finalists took them seriously as a warm-up.
League champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) pocketed RM60,000, second placed Tenaga Nasional RM40,00 and third placed Sapura RM30,000.
There was another winner yesterday, when national No 1 goalkeeper S. Kumar, playing for Tenaga, received an incentive of RM5,000 for being named as the Best Player in Asia by the Asian Hockey Federation recently.
Sapura, 2005 and 2006 Overall champions, have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals as they play Maybank, whom they beat 2-0 and 4-0 in the League.
However, Sapura might feel a void in the knock-out, as national player Jivan Mohan has joined the Police force, and will be reporting for training on March 1.
“Jivan will be reporting for training at the end of the month, and we might lose him for the last-eight. However, we are hoping to get a special release for him, and are keeping our fingers crossed,” said Sapura coach I. Vickneswaran.
Sapura had the better of Maybank in the League but: “Although we beat them on both occasions in the League, I believe the knock-out will be a different match all together. Maybank have the players to cause an upset, and we will not take them lightly.”
KLHC are virtually assured of a semis spot, as they play Bandar Penawar Sports School, while Tenaga Nasional will also have an easy time as they meat Armed Forces Juniors.
The only well balanced match will be between Yayasan Negri Sembilan v UniKL, which might go to the wire.
PREMIER DIVISION: RESULTS -- UniKL 3 UiTm 0, May bank 3 Yayasan Negri Sembilan 5, Sapura 5 Armed Forces- Airod 1, Tenaga Nasional 0 Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club 3.
TNB CUP -- Quarter-finals (first leg): March 4 -- Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v Bandar Penawar Sports School (Tun RAzak, 4pm), Yayasan Negri Sembilan v UniKL (Tun Razak, 6pm), Sapura v Maybank (Tun Razak, 8pm), Armed Forces Juniors v Tenaga Nasional (KLHA, 5pm).
March 6 (second leg): Tenaga Nasional v Armed Forces Juniors (Tun Razak, 4pm), Maybank v Sapura (Tun Razak, 6pm), UniKL v Yayasan Negri Sembilan (Tun Razak, 8pm), Bandar Penawar Sports School v Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHA, 5pm).


FINAL STANDINGS

PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pt
KLHC 16 14 1 1 75 20 43
TNB 16 11 1 4 46 20 34
SAPURA 16 11 0 5 48 29 33
UNIKL 16 9 3 4 30 27 30
YNS 16 8 0 8 49 44 24
MAYBANK 16 4 3 9 21 30 15
NUR INSAFI 16 4 2 10 27 51 14
UITM 16 3 0 13 21 53 9
ATM 16 3 0 13 19 62 9

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 12 9 2 1 31 12 29
BPSS 12 8 0 4 27 19 24
BJSS 12 7 1 4 33 15 22
MALACCA CC 12 5 1 6 16 16 16
IPOH CH 12 4 3 5 19 24 15
USM 12 3 0 9 18 36 9
UNITEN 12 1 3 8 12 34 6

Money for nothing, and chicks for free...

NATIONAL hockey players stand to pocket at least RM20,000 each if they qualify for the London 2010 Olympics.
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) council yesterday endorsed this barrel of cookies as an added incentive, as Malaysia last played in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
“The council today (yesterday) endorsed RM1,000 per player for each win in the Olympics Qualifier, and if Malaysia qualify, there is an added RM15,000 bonus for each player,” said MHF secretary Maninderjit Singh after MHF held their council meeting in Malacca yesterday.
MHF will foot 50 per cent of the incentive bill, while the remainder will come from their president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
And there is also a major change in the coaching structure, as Tai Beng Hai was elevated from assistant to his old post of chief coach for the senior side.
Stephen van Huizen was elevated to National Team Co ordinator and Coaching Chief.
“Stephen will also play the role of team manager when none is available, but the selection still lies with the various age-group coaches,” said Maninderjit.
Beng Hai’s assistant will be Nor Saiful Zaini, while the team managers appointed are George Koshy and M. Gobinathan.
MHF also set targets to achieve, with the first is to finish top-four in the Azlan Shah Cup, and then top-five in the Champions Challenge in South Africa.
Mirnawan Nawawi will remain as team manager and advisor for the 2013 Project Squad, while the coaches will be K. Dharmaraj, K. Gobinathan and Nor Azlan Bakar.
As for the 2017 team, Paul Lissek will be the consultant, while the chief coach will be Lim Chiow Chuan, assisted by Lailin Abu Hassan.
The council also set clear national team Code-of-Conduct with specific punishment for abuse of drugs, and getting involved in betting and gaming syndicates.