Friday, May 6, 2011

Pakistan take early lead

RESULTS -- Korea 2 Pakistan 4, Great Britain 1 India 3, Australia 2 Malaysia 1.

STANDINGS

P W D L F A Pts
PAKISTAN 2 2 0 0 8 4 6
INDIA 2 1 0 1 5 4 3
AUSTRALIA 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
BRITAIN 2 1 0 1 4 4 3
KOREA 2 1 0 1 5 6 3
NEW ZEALND 1 0 0 1 2 4 0
MALAYSIA 2 0 0 2 2 5 0

MAY 7 -- REST DAY.
MAY 8 -- Australia v India (4pm), Great Britain v Pakistan (6pm), Korea v New Zealand (8pm).
MAY 9 -- Australia v Pakistan (4pm), Great Britain v New Zealand (6pm), India v Malaysia (8pm).
MAY 10 -- REST DAY.
MAY 11 -- New Zealand v Malaysia (4pm), Australia v Korea (6pm), Pakistan v India (8pm).
MAY 12 -- Australia v Great Britain (4pm), New Zealand v India (6pm), Korea v Malaysia (8pm).
MAY 14 -- Great Britain v South Korea (4pm), Pakistan v Malaysia (6pm), Australia v New Zealand (8pm).
MAY 15 -- Fifth-Sixth (4pm), Third-Fourth (6pm); Final (8.30pm).

Malaysia 1 Australia 2

MALAYSIA almost did the unthinkable, but lost 2-1 to Australia in the 20th Edition of the Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh yesterday.
A missed penalty stroke, a bloody nose, and a brusing encounter was what Malaysia suffered against the World No 1.
Malaysian strikers caught Australia napping in the first half with swift counter attacks which resulted in two penalty corenrs won and a super goal in the 23rd minute.
Both the penalty corners went to waste, but Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin brough the roof down when his stylish goal gave Malaysia an unxepected lead.
Receiving an overhead ball from Radzi Rahim at the back-line, Tengku collected the ball and beat Brent Dancer at the tip of the semi-circle, before racing in and then beating goalkeeper Andrew Charter with a deft reverse stick shot.
Tengku, who wore the skipper's armband, scored a similar spectatcular goal against Great Britain on Thursday.
The second half also belonged to Malaysia, with Asia's best goalkeeper S. Kumar bringing out some super saves to deny Australia the eqaliser.
And upfront, Tengku, Faizal Saari and Hafifihafiz Hanafi created many chances, but could not finish them off.
Australia finally got the break they were looking for when a poor pass from Madzli Ikmar was snatched by the Australians and off a goalnmouth melee, Madzli was hit on the face by a goal-bound shot and a penalty stroke was given away.
Madzli made up for his mistake, but Simon Orchard stepped up to the spot and beat Kumar in the 59th minute for the equaliser.
Malaysia refused to share the points and immediately mounted an attack which resulted in a penalty corner, which was turned into a penalty stroke when the ball hit an Aussie leg.
However, the 63rd minute penalty stroke, taken by Faizal Saari, was easily stopped by goalkeeper Andrew Charter.
Australia won a penalty corner in the last minute of the match, and it was heartbreak for Malaysia as Jason Wilson scored the winner with 35 seconds remaining on the clock.
Meanwhile India upset the formbook when they beat Great Britain 3-1 with Rupinder Singh helping himself to a hat-trick of penalty corners in the 10th, 55th, 57th minutes.
The Britain goal was scored by James Tindell in the 62nd minute.

India 3 Britain 1

India upset the formbook when they beat Great Britain 3-1 with Rupinder Singh helping himself to a hat-trick of penalty corners.
The Britain goal was scored by James Tindell.

Pakistan 4 Korea 2

PAKISTAN coach Khawaja Junaid had every reason to smile, while his South Korean counterpart Shin Seok Kyo gave his players a lashing in the dressing room after the hooter.
Junaid was especially pleased that his charges played good hockey for 70 minutes, unlike the previous Pakistan teams.
"I am extremely pleased with my players commitment, as they played 70 minutes of good hockey unlike our previous teams which start buckling in the final stages of a match.
"This is what we have been working on, and it has reaped results," said Junaid.
And the fact that Sohai Abbas finally scored off his trademark drag-flick also brought cheers to the Pakistan team as they collect full points from two matches.
"We scored field and also off penalty corners and that showed improvement from our first match against Pakistan.
"And fitness was also excellent, as I believe if we had to play another match tomorrow (today) my players will still deliver," said Junaid.
Today is a rest day, while Pakistan play Great Britain on Sunday.
As for the Korean coach, he shut the door of the dressing room, and gave his charges a dressing down for losing the match in the final seven minutes of the game.
The Pakistan goals were scored by Rehan Butt (21st), Sohai Abbas (63rd), Abdul Haseem (64th) and Waqas Akbar (70th).
The Korean goals were scored by Hyun Hye Sung (13th, 46th).

Negre lauds academy plan

THE International Hockey Federation (FIH) president yesterday congratulated Malaysia for being the first country in the world to set-up an academy to promote hockey in the region.
The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF), in collaboration with the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC), will set-up the academy in Ipoh with the official launch held on Monday.
"Malaysia has always taken the lead in many new projects, and I am really pleased that an academy, the first ot its kind in the world, will be based in Malaysia to promore hockey in the region," said FIH president Leandro Negre in Ipoh yesterday.
"I must applaud the initiative by AHF and the role played by Malaysia is an example for others to follow.
"On our part, the FIH is ever willing to assist in any manner we can to ensure the continued success of the academy," said Negre.
The FIH is also keen for the revival of the Five Continents Hockey Tournament and is looking towards 2013 for the first tournament to be held.
The plan is to hold the tournament a year after the major events -- the 2012 Olympics and the 2014 World Cup.
"This will ensure that the best players are picked to represent their respective continents."
Asian Hockey Federation Secretary General Tan Sri P. Alagendra said that AHF was prepared to play host to the event.
"The President of AHF (Sultan Azlan Shah) has communicated our desire to host the event to the FIH President and we are optimistic that it will take place in 2013," said Alagendra.

Our ladies off to Austria

THE Malaysian women's hockey team left for Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday to play in the Champions Challenge II from May 7-15.
Malaysia finished seventh out of eight teams in the last edition in Kazan, and hope to do much better this time.
"We will play against Belgium, Russia and Belarus in Group B. And after the pool matches, even though there are four teams in each group, we will move into the quarter-finals and get another chance to improve our ranking," said Malaysian Women's Hockey Federation secretary S. Shamala.
Former men's international goalkeeper Nasihin Nubli will coach the team in an international tournament for the first time.
"Our target is to finish fourth, because this tournament is a build-up to our Olympic Qualifier next year," said Shamala.
GROUP A: Chile, Canada, Italy, Austria.
GROUP B: Belgium, Russia, Malaysia, Belarus.
SATURDAY -- Group A: Chile v Italy, canada v Austria; Group B: Belgium v Malaysia, Russia v Belarus.
SUNDAY -- Group A: Canada v Chile, Italy v Austria; Group B: Russia v Belgium, Malaysia v Belarus.
TUESDAY: Group A: Italy v Canada, Chile v Austria; Group B: Malaysia v Russia, Belgium v Belarus.
MALAYSIA: Nadia Rahman (c), Farah Ayuni (GK), Siti Noor Hafiza (GK), Norhasikin Halim, A. Kannagi, Noor Hasliza Ali, Siti Nor Amarina, Juliani Mohamed, Norbaini Hashim, Siti Shahidah, Nor Azlin Sumantri, Nuraini Abdul Rashid,
Siti Rahmah, Nur Amirah, Fazilla Sylvester, Nor Hidayah, Rabiatul Adawiyah, Raja Norsharina.
Coach: Nasihin Nubli; Team manager: Ernawati Mahmud.