Saturday, October 8, 2011

KLHC lying on a comfy cushion

THE TNB-Malaysia Hockey League title belongs to Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) even before playing Sapura in their final fixture today, but the double champions will be chasing for an unbeaten record by fielding their best.
Coach R. Vivekanandan said even though they have a 14 goal lead, while Sapura has lost a match and are trailing by three points, it will not be a rest day for his charges.
“I have pushed forward the point that as double cham pions, we will have to prove ourselves by winning our final match against Sapura to keep our unbeaten record going into the iknock out stage.
“I will field the best 18, and we will not slow down the momentum or take the match lightly as KLHC’s reputation is at stake here,” said Vivekanandan.
The only player who could be missing from KLHC’s line-up today is Kelvinder Singh.
“Kelvinder picked up a shoulder injury while playing against Nur Insafi (on Friday) and is a doubtful starter, while the rest of my players are in good shape to give their best,” said Vivekanandan.
And after lifting the title, they will have te esaiest of quarterfinals as they will meet Division One champions Thunderbolt.
The match is expected to be a lopsided affair and could even reach an aggregate of 20-0 in the two-leg quarters.
Sapura coach I. Vickneswaran said their chances of up setting are slim: “With a 14-goal deficit, we need to beat KLHC by seven goals to deny them the title, which is a little too steep to achieve.”

P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 7 7 0 0 40 11 21
Sapura 7 6 0 1 24 9 18
TNB 8 5 1 2 26 8 16
Maybank 7 3 1 3 16 12 10
YNS 7 3 0 4 12 21 9
UniKL 7 1 4 2 15 20 7
Nur Insafi 7 2 1 4 14 26 7
UiTM 7 0 2 5 7 27 2
Airod 7 0 1 6 9 29 1

Division One

P W D L F A Pts
T’bolt 8 4 4 0 22 17 16
Ipoh CH 7 3 3 1 14 16 12
Uniten 7 2 3 2 13 14 9
BJSS 7 1 3 3 14 11 6
UNIMAP 7 1 1 5 11 16 4

TODAY: Premier Division: YNS v UiTM (Pitch II, 4pm), Maybank v Nur Insafi (Pitch 1, 5pm), UniKL v Armed Forces Airod (Pitch II, 6pm), KL Hockey Club v Sapura (Pitch II, 8pm).
All matches at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Division 1 Ipoh City Hall v UniTen (Azlan Shah, 5pm), UNIMAP v BJSS (Alor Star, 5pm).

MHC almost a reality

THE Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) will be for mally formed by the end of December, and the term will run for four years until 2014.
Yesterday, the MHC held their Extraordinary General Meeting, and president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said the body is at a crossroad right now, but will be a reality by the end of the year.
“The MHC is at a crossroads as to its structure after we were formed in 2006. Recently, the FIH (International Hock ey Federation) wants a certain structure with both the women and men mereged as one.
“We have almost reached that stage, and it is also in my personal interest to see hockey in Malaysia is merged as one system under one roof which the FIH has numerous times highlighted to us on the urgency to merge,” said Tengku Abdullah.
Onced merged the MHC structure will see a president, a deputy president, two senior vice-presdients, 10 vice pres idents, four independent members, a secretary, an assistant sectary, treasurer and an assistant treasurer.
Only the secretary his assistant, and treasurer and his assistant will be appoinetd, while the rest of the posts will be elected.
“The FIH have approved MHC’s constitution and by the time we merge, we will have 26 affiliates which constitutes 16 from the men and 10 from the women.
“And after the merger, we will continue work on the Strategic Plan for six years (from 2010 to 2016 mooted earlier) and hope Malaysian hockey shall continue to achieve greater heights in years to come.”
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) also gave out RM5,000 to each player yesterday for winning bronze in the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy in Ordos, Innner Mon golia, recently.
“Our target for the tournament was fourth, and this reward is to spur the players to achieve better results in the coming tournaments (Champions Challenge I and Olympics Qualifier),” said Tengku Abdullah.
And on the doping scandal which has hit the Malaysia Hockey League Premier Division: “Players have tested pos itive in the first test and I will wait for the second test to make a statement, to be fair to all.
“However, MHF has tested all its senior and junior trainees and the results retu
rned negative on Monday and I see this as a positive development,” said Tengku Abdullah.