Friday, May 27, 2011

KL edge Perak 2-1

RAZAK CUP Division One defending champions Kuala Lumpur struggled to beat Perak 2-1 in the Central Zone Qualifier at the Ministry of Education pitch yesterday.
And in the Northern Zone, Penang were surprisingly beaten by Perlis 3-1. The Qualifiers will be held over two legs, with the top-two teams in each zone playing in the Division One tournament in Malacca on July 20-30.
The other teams will play in Division Two in Malacca.
Yesterday, national player Nabil Fiqri saved the blushes for Kuala Lumpur by scoring a brace in the first and 61st minutes.
The Perak goal was scored by Riduan Nasir in the sixth minute.
However, Kuala Lumpur had released eight players to the Project 2013 squad which is on a Tour of Australia and New Zealand.
The Project boys have played three matches against the Australian Juniors and were hammered 9-1, then lost 2-1 before holding the Australians to a 5-5 draw. Their fourth match is on Sunday.
“Yes, KL missed the young legs which we released to the Project side. That is why we lacked speed, especially in attack,” said KL assistant coach K. Embaraj.
The Razak Cup Qualifiers will also see national players skipping the second round, because they will be involved in a Four-Nation in Moscow from June 20-26 which involves Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine and South Africa.
However, fresh registration is allowed for the Division One and Division Two tournament in Malacca, and the best juniors and seniors will be able to represent their states there.


RESULTS -- NORTH ZONE: Penang 1 Perlis 3, Armed Forces 3 Kedah 0.
CENTRAL ZONE: Perak 1 Kuala Lumpur 2, Selangor 3 Project 2017 1.
FIXTURES -- NORTH ZONE (all matches at the USM Stadium) Today: Penang v Armed Forces (5pm), Perlis v Kedah (7pm).
Tomorrow: Perlis v Armed Forces (5pm), Penang v Kedah (7pm).
CENTRAL ZONE (All matches at the Ministry of Education Pitch) -- Today: Kuala Lumpur v Project 2017 (6.30pm), Selangor v Perak (8.30pm).
Tomorrow: Perak v Project 2017 (6.30pm), Kuala Lumpur v Selangor (8.30pm).

STANDINGS

NORTH ZONE

P W D L F A Pts
FORCES 1 1 0 0 3 0 3
PERLIS 1 1 0 0 3 1 3
PENANG 1 0 0 1 1 3 0
KEDAH 1 0 0 1 0 3 0


CENTRAL ZONE

P W D L F A Pts
SELANGOR 1 1 0 0 3 1 3
K LUMPUR 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
PERAK 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
PROJECT 2017 1 0 0 1 1 3 0

SOUTH ZONE

P W D L F A Pts
JOHOR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NEGRI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MALACCA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


EAST ZONE
P W D L F A Pts
KELANTAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PAHANG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Negri's hopes on youth

NATIONAL defender Madzli Ikmar, who fractured his cheekbone during the recent Azlan Shah Cup, is looking good to represent Negri Sembilan in the Razak Cup South Zone Qualifier on June 3-5.
Malacca and Johor are their opponents, and only two teams from this group will play in Division One, while the third will be relegated to Division Two.
"We have a tough group as all three are Division One sides and last year we lost 2-1 to Johor and drew 0-0 with Malacca.
"However, this year, we will be parading many Under-21 players and hopefully their young legs will keep us in Division One," said Negri coach S. Chandran.
"Our national players are goalkeeper S. Kumar, Marhan Jalil and Madzli Ikmar.
"And the former players are S. Kuhan and Suhaimi Ibrahim.
"The rest will be junior players as we plan for the future and stop relying on old hands like in previous years," said Chandran.
Madzli, who was injured in the face against Australia in the Azlan Shah Cup, has started training with Negri.
"He said he wants to help Negri in the Qualifier as there is still time for him to fully recover from the injury," said Chandran.
Meanwhile, the Negri Under-21 trials will be held tomorrow at the Seremban II Stadium from 7pm.
For details, contact Tamil Selvan at 019-3650303.

New shine for Razak Cup

By K. Kandiah
nstsport@nstp.com.my

THE Razak Cup North and Central Zone Qualifiers will kick off this weekend with the top two teams from each zone qualifying for Division One action, while the others will play in Division Two in Malacca on July 20-30.
Penang HA secretary V. Jayanandhan said the Razak Cup will take a different format this year where the competition's first round will be played on a zonal basis.
"The Razak Cup tournament is the premier hockey competition in the country, but sadly it is slowly losing importance and popularity.
"So the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) has come up with this format to make the competition relevant and also popular among hockey enthusiasts, state associations and players.
"The competition is divided into five zones and will be held on a two-leg format, after which the top two from each zone will play in Division One while the other teams will play in Division Two at the national level tournament in Malacca in July," he said.
Jayanandhan said MHF will pay a subsidy of RM1,000 per game for every game played at the zone level and also an additional incentive of RM5,000 and RM3,000 for teams who qualify for Division One and Division Two respectively.
This is the first time MHF is making a two-tier payment to teams competing in the Razak Cup.
The north zone comprises Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Armed Forces while the central zone will have Perak, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and the National Under-16 team.
The south zone is made up of Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Johor and Singapore while the east zone has Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Police.
The East Malaysia zone has Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei.
Armed Forces and hosts Penang are expected to top the table in the north zone tournament.
The hosts will open their campaign against Perlis while Armed Forces will play their opening match against Kedah at the Universiti Sains Malaysia Hockey Stadium in Penang.
The return leg will be held at the Sultan Abdul Halim Shah Hockey Stadium in Sungai Petani on June 24-26.
FIXTURES -- NORTH ZONE (all matches at the USM Stadium) Today: Penang v Perlis (5pm), Armed Forces v Kedah (7pm).
Tomorrow: Penang v Armed Forces (5pm), Perlis v Kedah (7pm).
Sunday: Perlis v Armed Forces (5pm), Penang v Kedah (7pm).
CENTRAL ZONE (All matches at the Ministry of Education Pitch) -- Today: Perak v Kuala Lumpur (6.30pm), Selangor v Project 2017 (8.30pm).
Tomorrow: Kuala Lumpur v Project 2017 (6.30pm), Selangor v Perak (8.30pm).
Sunday: Perak v Project 2017 (6.30pm), Kuala Lumpur v Selangor (8.30pm).

Project 2013 hold Australia Juniors

It started with a 9-1 drubbing, then a 2-1 defeat, but the third friendly between Project 2013 from Malaysia and Australian Juniors ended in a 5-5 draw.
The fourth and final friendly in Perth will he held on Sunday.