TERENGGANU Hockey Team's five South Koreans finally arrived to help their cause in a crucial Malaysia Hockey League Premier Division weekend.
Terengganu and Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC), with two wins each, are the early favourites, and will go head on this Sunday to decide who is the best in Round One action.
But before that, THT must overcome Maybank, while KLHC face Sapura today.
"We have been playing with 14, as Engku Malek was injured, while the Koreans only arrived today (yesterday) and we had light training in the evening. Now, my bench is much stronger and I believe we will take the advantage going into the Second Round if we win six points this weekend.
THT after demolishing UniKL 7-0 to put to the grind by Tenaga and could only play to a narrow 2-1 win.
The Koreans - Kang Moon Kyu, Seo Jong Ho, Kang Moon Kweon, Bae Jeong Seok, and Jang Jong Hyun, are expected to give Maybank a torrid time.
Defending champions KLHC are growing in strength as they beat Tenaga 5-3 in Charity Shield and then a convincing 4-1 win over Maybank last Sunday.
“We went into the match (against Maybank) just looking for three points and we did not expect to get an easy win. We were fortunate to take an early lead and pushed on from there,” said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
Today, winless Tenaga and UniKL will be going for their first points: "I think overall the team played well against THT last Sunday. It was a tight match and we had many good chances, I’m very happy with the way my team performed. But the thing that we have to work on is our ability to finish off our chances in front of goal,” Saif Tenaga coach Nor Saiful Zaini.
FRIDAY: Sapura v KLHC (6pm, Pitch I), UniKL v Tenaga (6pm, Pitch II), Maybank v Terengganu HT (8pm, Pitch II).
SUNDAY: Maybank v UniKL (6pm, Pitch I), KLHC v Terengganu HT (6pm, Pitch II), Tenaga v Sapura (8pm, Pitch II).
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
TERENGGANU 2 2 0 0 9 1 6
KLHC 2 2 0 0 9 4 6
SAPURA 2 1 1 0 4 3 4
MAYBANK 2 0 1 1 3 6 1
TENAGA 2 0 0 2 4 7 0
UNIKL 2 0 0 2 1 9 0