THE Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division will complete its first round in Kuantan today, with Maybank import Shakeel Abbasi confident his mates will not disappoint.
Maybank are just one point adrift of double champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC), and are good for three points against Nur Insafi today; while they will have to play above par to beat Tenaga on Sunday.
“We have only lost KLHC (3-4) so far, and that was mainly because there was still some loose understanding between the local and foreign players then.
“However, we have overcome that after a few matches and it showed during our last match against UniKL (Maybank won 4-1) and I believe we will be stronger in Kuantan and also the return leg,” said former Pakistan skipper Shakeel.
The other Pakistan signings in Maybank are Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Waqas and Shafqat Rasool.
And for league leaders KLHC, even though they lost six key players to Terengganu, their encounter today will be re garded as ‘just another match.’
The six, Azlan Misron, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Shahrun Nabil, Ismail Abu, Fitri Saari and Ameerullah Aziz left KLHC to better deals in Terengganu, but have not ben able to produce results as the East Coast side has only one win and a draw to show after four matches.
“Off the field we are all friends and what is vital is the three points. We are focused on getting the points and it will not be easy as Terengganu will ge out to redeem themselves," said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
“I expect a close match as they have players who can cause havoc if allowed to dictate terms. On the positive note, my team has developed a good understanding (foreign and local) despite a limited period of training together,” said Dharmaraj.
TODAY: Premier Division -- Terengganu v KLHC (6pm), Maybank v Nur Insafi (6pm), Sapura v UniKL (8pm).
Saturday: Nur Insafi v TNB (6pm).
Sunday: Sapura v KLHC (6pm), Terengganu v UniKL (6pm), Tenaga v Maybank (8pm).
Note: Matches at Pitch I and II of the Kuantan Hockey Stadium.
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 4 3 1 0 19 6 10
Maybank 4 3 0 1 14 9 9
TNB 4 1 3 0 13 11 6
Sapura 4 1 2 1 10 10 5
Tgganu 4 1 1 2 12 11 4
UniKL 4 1 0 3 5 14 3
N Insafi 4 0 1 3 3 15 1
