AFTER only one win in nine League matches, Tenaga Nasional are now Kingmakers in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League.
Tenaga lost five and drew three, but their awesome 2-1 win over League title contenders Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) on Friday has turned the tables upside down.
From a hopeless situation, the Tenaga win, propelled Terengganu Hockey Team into the title limelight -- as they too beat Sapura 4-1 at Batu Buruk Friday.
The maths for THT is easy, beat Tenaga Sunday at Batu Buruk and win the League title. THT can't afford to draw or lose, as Sapura and KLHC will be waiting to claim the title.
"We have had some really close matches with one-goal separating us from the favourites this whole season. We even lost the Alagendra Cup 2-1 to Sapura.
"And So, I told my players that we have nothing to lose in the last two League matches (as TNB are also out of the running for the Semi-finals of the TNB Cup) and play for the pride of the Club they represent.
"We beat KLHC (2-1) for the first three points of the seson and now will play for another win against THT at their own den.
"MY players have been trained not to fear any opponent. And even though we are the only team in the Premier Division without foreign players, our local lads have shown that they have promise in them," said Tenaga coach Amin Rahim.
Double champions THT have had a really sorry start to the season as they lost the Charity Shield 2-1 to KLHC, and wer never at the top of the standings until Tenaga propelled them to the top.
"Its easier to win a title than to defend it for the third-consecutive year. But now that we are in that position, I believe everything will fall our way again on Sunday," said THT coach Sarjit Singh.
For the record, THT have been the double consecutive double champions. The two aces up Sarjit's sleeves are South Korean Jang Jong Hyun who has scored 10 penalty corner goals, and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin with five field and two penalty corner rebound goals to his name.
Both are top two on the top-scorers list.
THT, Sapura and KLHC have qualified for the TNB Cup semi-finals, while the final slot will be a decider between Maybank and UniKL today.
SUNDAY -- Premier Division: Terengganu HT v Tenaga Nasional (Batu Buruk, 5.30pm), Kuala Lumpur HC v UniKL (KLHA, 8pm), Sapura HC v Maybank (Tun Razak, 6pm).
Division One -- Quarter-finals Second Leg: Nur Insafi (1) v TNB Thunderbolts (3) (Sungai Petani, 5pm), ATM Airod (2) SSTMI (5) (Tun RAzak, 8pm), Ipoh City Council (1) v Uitm-KPT (2) (Azlan Shah, 6pm), BJSS (2) v Politeknik (3) (Ministry of Education, 6pm).
Note: First Leg scores in parenthesis.
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
THT 9 6 1 2 26 15 19
SAPURA 9 6 0 3 15 15 18
KLHC 9 5 2 2 26 13 17
MAYBANK 9 3 1 5 17 30 10
UNIKL 9 2 1 6 8 13 7
TENAGA 9 1 3 5 16 22 6
