Tough for SSTMI Juniors and SSMS Resilient...

Sabah Sports School Malaysia (in yellow) and Kuala Lumpur Sports School players in action in the quarterfinals of the TNB Malaysian Junior Hockey Women League at the KLHA Stadium today. KL Sports School won 4-2.

THE two Division Two teams playing in the TNB Cup knock-out are expected to face a torrid time in the quarter-finals on Friday.
  For, Division Two finalists SSTMI Juniors and SSMS Resilient from Sabah have been playing against weaker sides and will be thrown into the deep side of the pool in the quarter-finals.
  In an open draw for the last eight, SSTMI Juniors were paired with Division one fourth placed team MSP-Thunderbolts from Pahang.
  As for SSMS Resilient, who are Sabah Sports School boys, they will face third placed finishers in Division One BJSS Thunderbolts.
  League champions PJCC Thunderbolts will play Anderson Thunderbolts -- whom they beat 3-1 in the League.
  The other quarters will be between SSTMI Thunderbolts and Johor Juniors. The Johor side are the surprise package this season, as they held SSTMI to a 1-1 draw, before losing 4-2 on shoot-out to qualify for the knock-out.
  In the women's JHL, Kuala Lumpur Sports School (KLSS Wipers) beat Sabah Sports School Malaysia 4-2 to book a semi-final seat, while defending champions Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) also advanced to the semis after beating MSN-MSSPK-SMK Gunung Rapat 3-1.
  The semi-finals will see MSSPP-PSHA-USM face KL Wipers and SSTMI go head to head against MSN Kedah on May 14.
  KLSS Wipers, who were finalist last season, will need to walk a fine line when they meet MSSPP-PSHA-USM as several players are carrying cards and another infringement could see them miss the final should they qualify.
  "We will speak to the players on what needs to be done. From there we will also have to change our structure for the next game depending on our opponent’s strengths," said KLSS Wipers coach A. Kannagi.
  FRIDAY -- Division One Quarter-finals: PJCC Tigers v Anderson Thunderbolts (PJCC Stadium, 5pm), MSP-Thunderbolts v SSTMI Juniors (Kuantan, 5pm), SSTMI Thunderbolts v Johor Juniors (SSTMI, 5pm), BJSS Thunderbolts v SSMS Resilient (KLHA, 5pm).
  SUNDAY -- Women's semi-finals: SSTMI v MSN Kedah (KLHA, 4pm), PSHA-USM v KLSS-Wipers (KLHA, 6pm).

PJCC Tigers snatch JHL League title...

PETALING Jaya City Council (PJCC Tigers) won their maiden Division One Junior Hockey League (JHL) League title when they held Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) Thunderbolts 2-2 Sunday.
  The one point was enough to hand them the title, even though they went on to win the shoot-out 7-6 for two points.
  To compound matters, runners-up last year SSTMI Thunderbolts were held 1-1 by Johor Juniors and even though they won the shoot-out 4-2 to collect two points -- it was not enough to challenge the Tigers.
  Last season's champions BJSS Thunderbolts finished third on 18 points. 
“This is unbelievable,” said an ecstatic PJCC Tigers coach Harfizi Baharom. 
  “I told the players before the start that this is our best chance to win the league title and don’t let this chance go to waste.
  “They played hard to win the title and we are excited. We led 2-0 and I think the boys got carried away which allowed BJSS to comeback for the equaliser. This is something we must not allow to happen in the quarter-finals of the TNB Cup for the overall title,” he added.
   A dejected BJSS Thunderbolt coach BJSS coach Lokman Yahya commended PJCC for their fighting spirit and mental strength.
  “We created a lot of chances and so we can only blame ourselves for letting this opportunity slip away after SSTMI were held to a 1-1 draw by Johor Tigers,” he said.
  RESULTS -- Division One: Olak-Nurinsafi 4 Politeknik 2, Anderson Thunderbolts 5 UniKL Young Guns 3, Johor Junors 1 SSTMI Thunderbolts 1 SSTMI won shoot-out 4-2), PJCC Tigers 2 BJSS Thunderbolts 2 (Tigers win shoot-out 7-6), BJSS Juniors 3 MS Pahang-Thunderbolts 5.
  Division Two: Final: SSTMI Juniors x SSMS Resilient x; Third-Fourth: Young Lions 1 MBMB Warriors 2.
  

FINAL STANDINGS

DIVISION ONE

               P  W  D  SO L  F  A  Pts
PJCC TIGERS    9  7  1  1  1  31 14  23
SSTMI          9  6  2  1  1  41 10  21
BJSS           9  5  3  1  1  37  9  19
MSP-PAHANG     9  5  1  1  3  23 13  17
ANDERSON       9  5  1  1  3  22 20  17
JOHOR JUNIORS  9  4  2  1  3  16 15  15
UNIKL          9  3  0  0  6  12 29  9
OLAK           9  2  2  0  5  15 32  8
POLITEKNIK     9  1  1  1  7  12 34  5
BJSS JNRS      9  0  1  0  8  7  39  1