Friday, March 13, 2015

SSTMI Thunderbolts v UniKL final..

UNIKL Young Guns and SSTMI Thunderbolts will clash in a repeat final for the MHC-Milo-NSC Milo Cup title Sunday at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
  Yesterday, UniKL thumped Petaling Jaya City Council 5-1 for a 7-1 aggregate win, while defending champions SSTMI Thunderbolts whipped SSP-MSP Thunderbolts 7-2 for a 12-3 aggregate win.
  Last season, SSTMI Thunderbolts beat UniKL 2-0 to lay their hands on the Milo Cup, but it will be a much more balanced final tomorrow.
  The UniKL goals were scored by Maxhans Christi (5th), S. Deveandren (22nd), Norikhwas Rahman (46th), Nur Faiz Rosli (59th) and Norsyafiq Sumantri (60th). PJCC got their consolation off Hussini Abu Bakar in the 41st minute.
  SSTMI Thunderbolts got their goals off Amirul Hamizan (7th, 12th), Zainul Rusyaidi (17th, 31st), Luqman Nul Hakim (25th), Zulhamizan Awang (46th) and Azmie Othman (66th). Indris Samad scored the SSP-MSP Thunderbolts goals in the 35th and 56th minutes.
  "Out initial target was just to qualify for the semi-finals and we have surpassed it. Now, we will just go in and enjoy the final as the pressure will be on SSTMI to defend their Milo Cup," said UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran.
  Vickneswaran aslo pointed out that SSTMI have the best juniors in the country: "So, there will be added pressure for them to defend as well as attack while we have nothing to lose while everything to gain from the final.
  SSTMI Thunderbolts will be gunning for their fourth consecutive JHL double: "We played for big wins in the semi-finals to keep the momentum going, because taking it easy at this stage could disrupt our our preparations to defend the Milo Cup.
  "And now that we got the goals flowing, hopefully it will give my strikers more confidence in the final."
  RESULTS: Semi-finals Second Leg: SSTMI Thunderbolts 7 SSP-MSP Thunderbolts 2 (SSTMI win 12-3 on aggregate); UniKL Young Guns 5 Petaling Jaya City Council 1 (UniKL win 7-1 on aggregate). 
  SUNDAY: Final -- SSTMI Thunderbolts v UniKL Young Guns (National Stadium Picth II, 5.30pm).
  Third-Fourth: SSP-MSP Thunderbolts v Petaling Jaya City Council (National Stadium Picth II, 3pm).

Time to grease the Poles...


THE Malaysian women will play in a do-or-die match against Poland Saturday in the semi-finals of the World League Round Two in New Delhi.
  Only the finalists advance to the World League Semi-finals, a feat which the women have yet to achieve.
  The driving force for coach Nasihin Nubli's charges would be the fact that Poland have been blowing hot and cold, while Malaysia have yet to concede a single goal in their 18-goal scoring spree in four matches.
  Also, Malaysia are ranked 21 in the world while Poland are No 26: "We only have one more match to qualify for WL Semis, and my charges are not about to give it up without playing their hearts out," declared Nasihin.
  And finishing third is also not an option for Malaysia, as the WL rules stipulate that the highest ranked bronze medallists in three of the Round Two tournaments will also advance, but Azarbaijan, ranked 19th, finished third in Montevideo and are eagerly awaiting qualification.
  SATURDAY: Semi-finals: Poland v Malaysia (8.15pm Malaysian time); India v Thailand.
  Fifth-Eighth: Singapore v Kazakhstan; Russia v Ghana.

Five head for France, Germany..

PIC: Selvaraju in red..

FIVE Malaysians will be heading abroad Saturday to ply their trade in France and German leagues.
  Former national player S. Selvaraju and former national coach K. Dharmaraj help secure clubs for the players, while the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) provided the release letters.
  Funding came from the National Sports Council as well as UniKL Hockey Club.
  Selvaraju, who started his career by playing in the 2005 Junior World Cup in Rotterdam, will be playing for Wespen HC, a Division Two outfit in Germany, together with twins Shazril Irwan, 21, and Shazrul Imran Nazli.
  Locally, Shazril plays for Tenaga Nasional while Shazrul for UniKL.
  Former national player Megat Azrafiq will head for France to play for Division Two outfit PSG HC.
  Nor Aqmal Mohamed (UniKL) and Khairul Amirin (KLHC) will play for 
German club Marrindoff HC.
  "This collaboration between German and France clubs was made possible with help from many quarters, and in the end, the country will benefit by sending our youth to play in overseas leagues. UniKL and Dharmaraj played a big role in securing sponsorship and clubs for the boys," said Selvaraju.
    The five will return in June.