KLHC sweat for win, UniKL break Terengganu..

Pic: KLHC's Harvinder Singh making an attempt against Sapura in Kuantan.
DEFENDING champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) were made to sweat before edging Sapura 3-2 in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League at the Kuantan Stadium yesterday.
    KLHC completed the first round with only one blemish, a 3-3 draw against Tenaga Nasional, and look good to break free in the second round starting this Friday.
   KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj said it was an important win, as they will start the second round against Sapura again.
   “We let in a goal and had to chase back for the win which resulted in unnecessary pressure in the last 10 minutes of the match. However, I am happy that we did not drop points in this match, as we will be playing against Sapura again on Friday in the second leg.
    “It was an important win, as I did not want to give Sapura an edge going into Friday,” said Dharmaraj.
     KLHC were given a scare in the sixth minute when Azrul Hasbullah connected a reverse stick cross to hand Sapura the lead, but Pakistan import Muhammad Imran put them level off a 35th minute penalty corner.
   And two quick goals by Imran in the 48th minute and Chua Boon Huat in the 54th minute gave KLHC some breathing space.
    Sapura’s Khasif Ali converted a penalty corner in the 60th minute to reduce the margin, but could not capitalise on two penalty more penalty corners they won in the 64th and 65th minutes.
   As for UniKL, they finally won their second match in mid-season when Noor Faeez Ibrahim delivered a hat-trick in the 18th, 22nd and 67th minutes. The Terengganu goal was scored by Jivan Mohan in the 40th minute.
   “It was a fantastic performance and I am really proud of my players. They never gave our opponents much space, and we hope to build on this in the second round,” said UniKL coach Arul Selvaraj.
   RESULTS: Premier Division --  Sapura  2 KLHC 3, Terengganu 1 UniKL  3, Tenaga x Maybank x.
    Note: Matches at Pitch I and II of the Kuantan Hockey   Stadium.

STANDINGS

PREMIER DIVISION

                   P  W  D  L  F  A   Pts
KLHC          6  5  1  0  27  8    16
Maybank    5  4  0  1  20  12    12
TNB            5  2  3  0  18  11    9
Sapura        6  2  2  2  15  14    8
UniKL         6  2  0  4  9   18      6
Tgganu       6  1  1  4  13  19    4
N Insafi      6  0  1  5   6    26     1

Pakistan thump Malaysia 6-0 in U-16 semis

KARACHI: Pakistan continued their superb run in the new five-a-side U16 Asia Cup as they marched into the final where they will face Bangladesh for the title in Singapore on Sunday.
   The tournament favourites defeated Malaysia 6-0 in their semi-final yesterday as Mohammad Atiq, who has enjoyed a goal spree, netted a brace in the rout. Sikandar Mustufa, Nohaiz Zahid Malik, Shan Irshad and Junaid Manzoor scored one goal apiece.
   Before their last-four tie, Sri Lanka had received a mauling at the hands of Pakistan, who went rampant in a 12-3 victory in their last group game.
   Earlier, coach Tahir Zaman had been uncertain about the team’s performance in the event even though he stressed that they had trained hard. However, all nerves were settled down when Pakistan got off to a flying start, smashing 16 goals against a hapless Chinese Taipei outfit in their tournament opener to register a 16-1 win.
   In another match, Pakistan saw off the challenge from Japan to register a 7-4 win.
   As many as 10 teams featured in the competition, with Pakistan being placed with Japan, China, Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei in Pool A, while the other group featured Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh and Kazakhstan.

The Express Tribune