KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) received a new lease of life when their two ace Policemen finally graduated, and returned to the hockey pitch.
National No 1 penalty corner flicker Razie Rahim and midfielder Nabil Fiqri graduated into inspectors from Pulapol on Feb 4, and on Wednesday they helped demolish UitM-KPT 9-1.
Razie scored a brace in his first Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) outing this season.
The win, and double champion Terengganu Hockey Team's 1-1 draw against Tenaga Nasional, has placed both the teams on 23 points after nine matches.
THT only lead the standings by a 15-goal margin.
KLHC had registered both the players, but could not field them in the first leg as they had to undergo a nine-month training to become inspectors.
"Razie and Nabil are experienced players and their entry into KLHC could not have come at a better time. Now I believe we have a fighting chance to lift the League title," said KLHC manager Ahmad Anuar Sham.
With Razie in defense and penalty corners, and Nabil in midfield, KLHC are the team to beat in the Premier Division now.
"We not only need to win, but score as many goals as possible to catch up with THT. However, I believe the title will be decided in the last match of the League on Feb 19," said Anuar.
That's the day KLHC will meet THT in the second leg. In the first leg, the match ended 2-2 with KLHC claiming the Charity Shield 6-5 on penalties.
Only the draw counted for points, while the shoot-out was for the Shield.
National seniors coach Stephen van Huizen still has his eyes on both the players, who last represented the country in the Asian Champions Trophy in October last year where Malaysia finished third.
"Both the players have been coming for fitness training even when they were in Pulapol for their Police training. They are an asset and will be considered for the Dhaka World League (Round Two, from March 4-12).
Both KLHC and THT are expected to win full points against Maybank and UiTM-KPT respectively today.
TODAY: UiTM-KPT v Terengganu HT (Tun Razak, 6pm), TNB Thunderbolts v Tenaga Nasional (SSTMI, 5pm), SSTMI v UniKL (SSTMI, 7pm), Kuala Lumpur HC v Maybank (KLHA, 6pm).
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
T'GGANU HT 9 7 2 0 49 5 23
KLHC 9 7 2 0 43 14 23
UNIKL 9 6 1 2 24 10 19
TENAGA 9 4 3 2 22 14 15
MAYBANK 9 3 1 5 19 27 10
THUNDERBOLTS 9 3 1 5 18 31 10
UITM-KPT 9 0 1 8 11 45 1
SSTMI 9 0 1 8 5 45 1
