Kuantan (1 July 2018): Former international Kevinder Singh scored six goals as Kuala Lumpur thumped Pahang 9-1 to keep their hopes alive of a semi-finals berth in the Premier Division of the IGP Cup Hockey Tornament at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium today.
The city cops, who suffered an ignominous 5-1 defeat against Pulapol KL, one of the top contender for the title, returned to form today in this Group B match to notch their win.
Kuala Lumpur, champions in 2014 and finished fourth in 2016, face Selangor in their last preliminary round group match tomorrow (July 2). Both teams are tied on three points after two matches.
Kevinder, who last represented the national team in 2012, scored in the 7th, 12th, 22nd, 39th, 43rd and 58th minutes whilst Azlizam Ahmad Zaman (35th), Faharul Nazrey Harun (40th) and Muhammad Faiz Zuri (60th) scored apiece. Pahang replied through Reffey Ukim in the 26th minute via a field goal.
“We played a much better game today than against Pulapol on Saturday,” said Kuala Lumpur team manager DSP Jaswent Singh. “Now we need to defeat Selangor to qualify for the semi-finals. They are a good side too.”
For Pahang, it was their second big defeat in the tournament after going down 7-2 against Selangor.
Pulapol KL crushed Selangor’s hopes by carving a 3-1 victory to go top of Group B with six points.
Team captain Baljit Singh, a former international, scored a brace (29th and 39th minutes) through penalty corner conversions and Azrul Shah Ramli added one. Selangor’s solitary goal came from Hendryvon Mejerry of a penalty corner conversion in the 28th minut.
In the rain-interrupted Group A matches, defending champion Bukit Aman defeated Johor 5-1 to register their second win while Perak edged Briged Tengah 1-0 in penalties after posting a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
With six points in the bag, Bukit Aman are virtually through to the semi-finals. In Monday’s last Group A preliminary round matches, Bukit Aman goes up against Briged Tengah whilst Perak plays Johor.
Results – Group A: Perak 1 Briged Tengah 1 (Perak win 1-0 in penalties; Bukit Aman 5 Johor 1; Group B: Kuala Lumpur 9 Pahang 1; Pulapol KL 3 Selangor 1.
PREMIER DIVISION TABLE STANDINGS
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
BUKIT AMAN 2 2 0 0 10 2 6
BRIGED TENGAH 2 1 0 1 2 2 3
PERAK 2 1 0 1 2 6 2
JOHOR 2 0 0 2 2 6 1
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
PULAPOL KL 2 2 0 0 8 2 6
SELANGOR 2 1 0 1 8 5 3
KUALA LUMPUR 2 1 0 1 10 6 3
PAHANG 2 0 0 2 3 16 0
