TBSS looking for middle finish

TUNKU Besar Secondary School (TBSS) will play in Di vision One of the Junior Hockey League (JHL) starting on Jan 19, and they eye a place in the quarter-finals for starters.
The last national player to break out from the school is current No 1 national goalkeeper S. Kumar, and the school hopes some of their strikers will be noticed by selectors.
“This team has been playing together for the past five years and since we became the Division Two champions last season, we received a promotion to play with the big boys.
“However, we are setting ourselves a modest target as we do not have import players as all are from TBSS itself,” said team manager M. Vivekananda.
The bulk of the players are 18-years-old awaiting for their SPM results: “And we will be banking more on field play instead of penalty corners for goals, as we do not have a good battery.”
Last season, TBSS captured their first JHL title when they beat MSSP-USM 4-1 in the Division Two final.
“It was the first JHL title for the school, and we hope to build on it, but there are some excellent teams in Division One, and if nothing else, my players will get a chance to learn how to play better hockey this season.”
Twenty-five teams have registered for the JHL, with Ipoh City Council and Anderson forming a partnership this season instead of playing as two teams.
The teams to watch would be League champions UniKL Young Guns and Overall champions SSTMI-Thunderbolt as well as Bukit Jalil Sports School.
The top six teams in Division One will qualify for the quarter-finals with the two champions from Division Two A and B.
The price money has also increased from RM80,500 to a total of RM145,500.
DIVISION ONE -- Ipoh City Council/Anderson, Tunku Besar Tampin, SS Bukit Jalil, SS Bukit Jalil Juniors, SSTMI Thun derbolts, UniKL Young Guns, MSSPP-USM, Petaling Jaya City Council, Yayasan Pahang, Tunku Mahkota Ismail School.
Division Two A: Politeknik KPT, Nur Insafi, KHA-MSNK, MSSP-USM Juniors, Anderson Juniors, Sapura, Kelantan, Kelantan HA Juniors.
Division Two B: SMK Padang Midin, Tunas Pahang, MHS- MSSNM-MSN Melaka, Olak KPT, SMK Dato Taha, Johor HA, Kuala Lumpur Sport School.