UNDER 16- Pahang Girls Come lately

By Jugjet Singh

March 22

KUALA LUMPUR: Pahang girls had to bring out their best to beat Terengganu 2-1 in the medal round of the National Under-16 tournament at the National hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil Thursday.

  In the other group, a second minute strike by Nur Ainaa Rahim was enough for Kuala Lumpur to beat Johor 1-0.
   Terengganu took the lead off Nur Nazurah Razali in the second minute, but Pahang fought back and equalised in the 51st minute off Zati Alyani Zubir and the winner was scored 20 seconds from end by Nur Shazwani Zakaria.
  Receiving a pass from J. Thibatharshini, Nur Shazwani cooly slotted in the ball to give her team-mates hope of playing in the final.
  Pahang play Malacca today, where a win will see them in their first Under-16 final.
  Pahang coach Sabri Mohamad said it was a jittery start, and luckly his girls scored a last minute goal.
  "We have never played in the medal rounds of the National Under-16 so I believe my girls were jittery today," said Sabri.
  "But after the second half, there was better effort from them and we manged to pull a 'rabbit out of the hat' in the dying seconds.
  "Now, we aim to beat Sabah to play in the final," said Sabri.
  Last year, Pahang finished seventh while in it was a miserable 11th in 2015.
  RESULTS: Boys -- Group X: Johor 2 Kuala Lumpur 0; Group Y: Perak 1 Pahang 0.
  Girls -- Group X: Terengganu 1 Pahang 2; Group Y: Johor 0 Kuala Lumpur 1.
  FRIDAY: Boys -- Group X: Kuala Lumpur v Penang (7.15pm, Pitch I); Group Y: Pahang v Malacca (7.15pm, Pitch II).
  Girls: Group X: Pahang v Sabah (6pm, Pitch I); Group Y: Kuala Lumpur v Malacca (6pm, Pitch II).

UNDER 16: Avtar Singh's begging pays off

By Jugjet Singh

March 22, 2018 @ 2:02pm

KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah Hockey Association (SHA) secretary Avtar Singh has to take out his begging bowl every time he wants to send teams to age-group and Junior Hockey League (JHL) tournaments in Peninsular Malaysia.

For him, the begging with sponsors and friends has paid off as after a short span, his players have started to impress.

Sabah boys and girls used to be punching bags for their rivals five years ago but after regularly competing in the National Under-14, Under-16 and the JHL, their boys finished fourth and the girls got a silver medal in the Under-16 last year.

This year, the Sabah boys held Pahang 1-1, Kelantan 1-1 and only lost to Kuala Lumpur 1-0 but crashed out of the medal rounds.

Ther girls qualified for the medal rounds by beating Sarawak 3-0, drawing 1-1 with Penang and losing 4-1 to Malacca.

"It's not easy as air fare, lodging, food, and allowances come up to RM80,000 for the two Under-16 teams while it’s a whopping RM200,000 for the two teams in the JHL.

"But Sabah HA know that our players can only improve if they play against stronger teams regularly and so it was decided that whatever the costs, we need to bear it.

"Our biggest supporters are MSN (Majlis Sukan Negeri) Sabah who gave RM43,000 to the Under-16 team alone this year.

"For the balance, I had to approach sponsors as well as friends 'with a begging bowl.'

"But seeing our boys and girls progress well in a short span has been a super reward, and I don't find begging a chore," said Avtar.

Sarawak are the other HA who have to bear high costs to field their players, and they, too, have shown marked improvement.

On Wednesday, Sarawak boys held Negri Sembilan to a 2-2 draw, showing a marked improvement. Last year Negri Sembilan ended sixth, while Sarawak were at the bottom 14th position.

The two state HAs should be emulated by those who feel that it is too cumbersome to look for sponsors to nurture home talent, who in the long run, will be an asset to the nation.