KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia lived dangerously and were punished by India 2-1 in the Eighth Edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru Saturday.
India took a 12th minute lead off Harmanjit Singh and made it 2-0 in the 47th minute when Shilanand Lakra was on target.
However, a brilliant reverse stick shot from Hafizhuddin Zaidi, also in the 47th minute, could not inject the much needed fire and Malaysia went down tamely in front of their own fans.
RESULTS: Britain 3 New Zealand 2; Australia 1 Japan 2; Malaysia 1 India 2.
SUNDAY: Japan v Britain (4.05pm); India v New Zealand (6.05pm); Australia v Malaysia (8.35pm).
NOTE: All matches at Taman Daya Hockey Stadium and telecast live over RTM.
STANDINGS
P W D L F A pts
BRITAIN 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
JAPAN 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
INDIA 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
MALAYSIA 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
AUSTRALIA 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
NEW ZEALAND 1 0 0 1 2 3 0
Saturday, October 6, 2018
Japan slay Australia
KUALA LUMPUR: Silver medallists Britain started their campaign in the eighth edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup with a clinical 3-2 win over New Zealand Saturday.
In another match, Japan surprised defending champions Australia when they beat them 2-1.
Britain, champions in 2015 could have won the game easily but faltered after taking a two-goal lead.
But a goal in the 35th minute saw them clinch a narrow win.
Mathew Ramshaw scored a field goal off a quick counter-attack in the fourth minute, while the other Britain goals were scored by Cameron Golden (12th) and Edward Way (35th).
New Zealand goals came off Maks Wyndham-Smith (23rd) and Jordan Ward (33rd).
Britain coach Jon Belby was disappointed with his team’s defensive display as they allowed the Kiwis to come back from 2-0 down.
“Overall, I must say that we controlled the game and had more chances. We should have won by a bigger margin. The defensive lapse cost us two goals and the match could have gone the other way.
"I hope to see a better performance against Japan Sunday,” he added.
New Zealand coach Collin Bryce said a draw would have been a fair result.
“Yes, I would think we should have shared points with them. We came back strongly in the second and third quarters. But they were a shade better in the end. We will try and improve further as we go along,” he said.
RESULTS: Britain 3 New Zealand 2; Australia 1 Japan 2; Malaysia 1 India 2.
SUNDAY: Japan v Britain (4.05pm); India v New Zealand (6.05pm); Australia v Malaysia (8.35pm).
NOTE: All matches at Taman Daya Hockey Stadium and telecast live over RTM.
SAVE THE KINRARA OVAL, DON’T KILL THE GAME
The iconic Kinrara Oval in Puchong, which once saw the actions of current and former Indian captains Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, both regarded as the best batsmen in the world, had been asked to close down.
The Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) were given a notice to vacate the ground, ‘the home of Malaysian cricket’ by the end of this month by the developer of the land.
Despite more than 400 matches hosting thousands of cricketers from schools to international level held at the ground, the continuous development in Klang Valley, which had already sacrificed many football fields, looked set to continue at the one of the fastest drying cricket ground in the world.
To show disagreement on the matter, more than 50 people from the cricket fraternity turned up at the ground bringing placards written “Don’t kill the game, save Kinrara Oval,” while many others took to social media platforms to show support for the ground using #SaveTheOval hashtags.
MCA President Mahinda Vallipuram said losing Kinrara Oval, where MCA’s headquarters was located, would kill the development of the sport, which was growing rapidly in the country.
“This is not just losing one ground, this is about the development of the sport in the country. Now we have more than 35,000 active cricketers at various levels playing the game, while our initiative with the Ministry of Education (MOE) for the past several years saw an increase in the number of cricket-playing schools in Malaysia to more than 800 from 250 four years ago.
“Today we have about 800 school teachers with Level 0 and 1 coaching certificates. We are also saving at least half a million ringgit a year by having our players’ hostel here…All these work are been done and administered from our office and facilities located here.
“Development of a sport does not happen in a short period of time, it needs 10 to 15 years to yield results. So what we are doing now is for the continuous development of the sport. So, we hope to solve this problem amicably,” he told Bernama when met at the ground.
Mahinda said he had discussed the matter with the Youth and Sports Ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali and a meeting between MCA and the ministry would be held to find a solution.
Meanwhile, one of the protesters, Mohamed Yusri Rauf, who was playing in the T20 Corporate League said the Kinrara Oval was more than a cricket playing ground for the cricketers.
“It is like a home to us… We need to save this ground which is the national ground for Malaysian cricket since the past two decades. This is the only ODI ranked ground in South East Asia and the best in Asia outside the Test-playing Nations,” Mohamed Yusri, who was also a commentator, told reporters.
The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Cricket Association Advisor, Lt Col (Rtd) Gerard Denis Singam said such sporting facilities must be saved for the development of sports in the country.
“We are talking about winning medals in the Olympics and Asian Games but right down at grassroots level, we are not taking care of sports…This is small piece of land, everybody wants to take it, for what?
“Let’s save it for cricket…. I was here when they started work on the ground in 2003, it was bare, just sand and grass. We built this oval to become one of the best in the region,” the founder of women’s cricket said.
Among the tournaments hosted at the Kinrara oval were the 2008 Under-19 (U-19) World Cup, 2006-07 DLF Cup played between Australia, India and the West Indies (seven matches), 2017 ACC U-19 Asia Cup, 2017 SEA Games and ACC Women’s Asia Cup, while recently the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) picked the Kinrara Oval as its home to play its women’s limited-overs series against Australia on Oct 18-29.
The Malaysian men’s team is ranked 27th in the world among 95 cricket playing nations, while at last year’s Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, Malaysia bagged a gold, silver and bronze medals.
Kinrara Oval in dire straits...
October 6, 2018 @ 6:28pm
THE five-acre Kinrara Oval is set to be reclaimed by Permodalan Nasional Berhad on Oct 31 to build condominiums, but still, Malaysia Cricket Association (MCA) are keeping their fingers crossed for a miracle.
And even though Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Rahman has yet to meet with MCA on the matter, it is said that he is working behind the scenes to stop this massacre of a sacred cricket ground.
MCA honorary secretary Iqbal Ali Kassim Ali confirmed they receive an eviction notice dated Oct 31, but said the fight has just started.
"We have met with the relevant authorities to try and solve the matter, but nothing is concrete yet. We are waiting to meet thje Sports Minister and hopefully he will have a solution on how to save the Kinrara Oval," said Iqbal.
Former Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had tweeted recently: "Please help @SyedSaddiq. I wrote to PNB as the land owner of the Oval to keep the grounds. One of my last few letters at KBS (Ministry of Sports). Also spoke to then Chairman. Hope you can follow up. Public funds used to upgrade for @KL2017. Now to be shut down and taken away."
Syed Saddiq had replied: "We already filed our objection before. Met up with the reps as well. This iconic ground must be defended.
Hopefully the new Chairman will hear our plight."
The new PNB chairman is Former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
Yesterday a group made up of residents around the Oval as well as young cricketers held a protest at the Oval by holding plycards. Some of them read 'Save Kinrara Oval' and 'Don't Kill The Game'.
Iqbal said if the ground is snatched away, it will damage the future plans of MCA to make cricket a popular sport.
"Around the globe, cricket is No 2 on viewership, and in Malaysia it is a strong team-sport and ranked world no 27 and we play in Division Four. If we lose the Oval, it will not help in our cause to make it a better team sport in Malaysia.
"We are still working to stop the eviction order, and hopefully the Sports Minister can spare some time to meet us (MCA)," said Iqbal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
