Sapura Juniors hit bright patch

THE Milo-Junior Hockey League (JHL) enters its third week, but the conclusion is damning as only four out of the 26 teams have a smattering of quality players.
The JHL boasts more than 500 players, but only about 10 per cent can be considered as having good basics.
Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) Thunderbolts, UniKL and Anderson have shown some promise early in the league, but the rest, except for Sapura in Division Two, are just making up the numbers.
And the early indications are that Overall champions Thunderbolts and League champions UniKL will share the spoils again this season.
“Many felt that it would be impossible for Sapura to form a new team in their JHL debut, but what a surprise it was when close to 100 turned up for our trials from all over the country,” said Sapura coach I. Vickneswaran.
Sapura are more well known in the senior league, and the junior side was formed this year to make sure they have a steady supply to replace those who retire from their senior side.
“We were very careful to select from the big turnout, as the club only wanted those who were serious in improving their game as we are in it for the long term.
“And out of the 22 selected, we have five students studying around the Klang Valley, while the rest had left school. We only had 13 days of proper training, but have won all four matches to date,” said Vickneswaran.
The club also utilised the services of former Internationals who are playing for their senior side like Megat Azrafiq, S.Kuhan and Faizal Daud to help motivate the young players.
“We have four more matches to play and the aim is to become champions and play in the quarter-finals with Division One teams as we want to set a benchmark in our first season,” said Vickneswaran.
Meanwhile, Kahirul Izwan Jais of Datuk Taha, who was flashed the red card when playing against Olak-PKT, was suspended for two matches for the offence.

DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pts
THUNDERBOLTS 4 4 0 0 27 3 12
UNIKL 3 3 0 0 14 1 9
Anderson 3 2 1 0 15 7 7
BJSS 3 2 0 1 11 8 6
USM Jnrs 2 1 1 0 7 6 4
MBPJ 4 1 0 3 12 12 3
SSTMI 3 1 0 2 6 16 3
TBSS 4 0 0 4 5 23 0
BJSS Jnrs 4 0 0 4 3 24 0

DIVISION TWO
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
SAPURA 4 4 0 0 28 1 12
Poli KPT 5 4 0 1 16 4 12
KHA Jnrs 3 1 2 0 3 2 5
NUR INSAFI 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
ANDSON Jnrs 4 1 0 3 8 10 3
MSS Kel 2 1 0 1 3 8 3
MSSPP Jnrs 4 1 0 3 5 18 3
KHA-MSNK 3 0 1 2 3 6 1
PHNS 2 0 0 2 0 17 0

GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
KLSS 4 2 0 2 11 6 6
PAHANG 4 2 0 2 6 8 6
OLAK 3 2 0 1 6 4 6
MPBP 4 2 0 2 5 5 6
MHS 3 2 0 1 4 4 6
SMKPM 3 1 0 2 6 6 3
DATUK TAHA 3 2 0 1 4 4 3
TUNAS PAHANG 2 0 0 2 2 7 0

DIVISION ONE: BJSS v USM-MSSP (Ministry of Education, 6pm), TBSS v BJSS Juniors (Seremban II, 4pm), MBPJ v MBI Anderson (Bukit Jalil, 5pm).
Division Two, Group A: Kelantan MSSK v Kedah HA Juniors (Ministry of Education, 8pm), Nur Insafi MSSPP-USM Juniors (Sungai Petani, 4pm), Kelantan HA v Negri HA (Alor Star, 4pm), Politeknik PKT v Sapura (KLHA, 7pm),
Division Two, Group B: Padang Midin v Yayasan Pahang (Terengganu, 4pm), Tunas Pahang v Olak-PKT (Kuantan, 4pm).

TOMORROW

DIVISION ONE: BJSS Juniors v USM-MSSPP (Ministry of Education, 6pm), MBPJ v SSTMI Juniors (Bukit Jalil, 7pm), BJSS v UniKL (Ministry of Education, 8pm).
Division Two, Group A: Negri HA v Anderson Juniors (Azlan Shah, 4pm), Sapura v Kelantan HA Juniors (KLHA, 6pm), KHA-MSNK MSSPP-USM Juniors (Alor Star, 4pm).
Division Two, Group B: Yayasan Pahang v Olak-PKT (Kuantan, 4pm), Malacca High School v KL Sports School (Malacca, 4pm), Datuk Taha v Tunas Pahang (Seremban II, 4pm).