Monday, March 14, 2011

KLHC hold the aces

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (LKHC) are the hot favourites to lift the TNB Cup when they square off against Sapura in the final on Saturday.
KLHC, who have seven national players while the rest are former internationals and Junior World Cup players, have depth in every department and their team-work is next to none.
"We are deadly as a unit, and that is what took us into the final. YNS have many good foreign players, but they relied more on individual skills," said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
And his take on Sapura?
"Sapura are a good mix of seniors and juniors and they know how to hold the match and will be deadly. We did beat them twice in the league (6-2, 3-0), and will build on that," said Dharmaraj.
Pakistan import Rehan Butt single handedly placed Sapura in the final by scoring both the goals in their 2-0 win against Tenaga in the second leg.
"My tally is now eight, but the two which I scored in the semi-finals are the most importan and I hope to deliver again in the final," said Rehan.
Thirty-year-old Rehan and Sohail Abbas scored for Pakistan in the final of the Asian Games in China to deny Malaysia a gold medal.
On the MHL overall, the Pakistan slalwart said: "I have seen some good talent in the MHL, and with Malaysia reaching the final of the Asian Games, I see a better future for this country in the near future.
"There is a great change in the mindset of Malaysian players from a few years back, that is for sure," said Rehan who is in the London Olympics training squad.
He will be back in Malaysia for the Azlan Shah Cup, which has a great following in Pakistan.
"The Azlan Shah Cup has a huge following back home and we will surely bring the best team as we would like to add another silverware to our colelction.
"And if I am not called-up to play in Europe (like last year) I will surely want to come back to Malaysia and play in the MHL," said Rehan.

Negri Sembilan on a roll

SELANGOR and Malacca registered convincing wins
in the National Under-16 tournament yesterday and
are set for an explosive Group A encounter at the
KLHA Stadium today.
Pahang were at the receiving end of the
onslaught by Selangor who hammered the east
coast side 7-1 while Malacca were equally clinical
in their 3-1 win over Johor.
With defending champions Kuala Lumpur, who
defeated Police 9-0, also in Group A, Selangor and
Malacca play in a do-or-die when they clash today.
Selangor coach Wan Samsuri realises that even
after three wins, the match against Malacca could
well determine their fate in the tournament.
“It is a three way battle between Selangor, KL and
Malacca for the two semi-finals slots from our
group. That is why we can't afford to lose against
Malacca,” said Wan Samsuri.
“Having eight players from last year’s team helps
as we did not have more then a week’s preparation
for the tournament this time. And after the
relatively poor performance against Sabah in our
opening match, we have been improving.
“Our initial target is making the semis and from
there it will be an open affair as I do not see vast
difference in standards amongst the teams here.”
Selangor is represented mostly by players from
SMK Seksyen 11 Shah Alam and the Bukit Jalil
Sports School. And they showed why they were a
team to be feared as they completely demolished
Pahang.
MohamedNoor Khairul scored a hattrick with
goals in the 5th, 12th and 45th minutes with the
other goals ccoming from Haikal Zamri (13th),
Nazirul Mubin (24th, 44th) and Qamarul Afiq Azny
(56th). Pahang’s consolation was scored by Khairul
Amri Talha in the 32nd minute.
Malacca were in a class of their own in their
match against Johor and took the lead in the sixth
minute via skipper Firdaus Omar. But Johor were on
levels terms when Safeed Roslan found the back of
the net in the 24th minute.
Goals from Mohd Firdaus (39th) and Nur Alif Aiman
(53rd) gave Malacca the three points.

GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
SELANGOR 3 3 0 0 14 3 9
K LUMPUR 2 2 0 0 14 0 6
MALACCA 2 2 0 0 7 2 6
JOHOR 3 0 2 1 4 6 2
PAHANG 3 0 1 2 4 13 1
POLICE 3 0 1 2 2 15 1
SABAH 2 0 0 2 1 7 0

GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
N SEMBILAN 3 3 0 0 15 3 9
PERAK 3 3 0 0 14 3 9
KELANTAN 3 3 0 0 11 1 9
KEDAH 3 1 1 1 6 6 4
TERENGGANU 3 1 0 2 10 10 3
PENANG 3 0 1 2 4 11 1
PERLIS 3 0 0 3 1 10 0
SINGAPORE 3 0 0 3 2 19 0

RESULTS: Group A: Selangor 7 Pahang 1, Johor 1
Malacca 3, Kuala Lumpur 9 Police 0.
Group B: Singapore 1 Terengganu 7, Perak 2
Penang 0, Negri Sembilan 3 Perlis 0, Kedah 0
Kelantan 4.
TODAY: Group A -- Kuala Lumpur v Pahang (5pm),
Slangor v Malacca (6.30pm), Police v Sabah (8pm).
Group B: N. Sembilan v Kelantan (7.30am), Perak v
Perlis (Ministry of Education, 8.30am), Kedah v
Terengganu (9am), Penang v Singapore (3.30pm).
# All other matches at the KLHA stadium.