Penang on a roll

By Ajitpal Singh

PENANG recorded their second consecutive win in the National Under-14 Hockey Championship when they edged defending champions Perak 2-1 in a Group A match at the Kuantan Stadium yesterday.
Penang, who defeated Kelantan 4-1 on Sunday, took a 2-0 lead in the opening 14 minutes with goals from Mohd Izzudan Halim (fourth) and Mohd Rahimi Iskandar (14th).
Perak replied through Mohd Najib Abu Hassan in the 23rd minute.
Meanwhile, Faiz Mohd Zain’s hat trick helped Kelantan outplay Perlis 7-0 in Group A yesterday.
Faiz scored in the 32nd, 34th and 38th minutes.
Mohd Sofieyudin (20th), Mohd Zafwan (52nd), Mohd Safa mi (54th) and Mohd Fitri Zaidi (62nd) scored the other goals.

RESULTS
Group A: Perlis 0 Kelantan 7, Perak 1 Penang 2
Group B: Terengganu 3 Malacca 2, K. Lumpur 1 Selangor 1

Malaysia willing to spend Euro 16k per-month

IT is a confirmed fact that the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) Coaching Committee is just a rag doll, being tossed in different directions, by those with vested interests.
Two recent cases strenghten the argument that the committe is just a rubber stamp, and endorses, not makes decisions on coaches.
The first is the decision by its chairman Dr Balbir Singh to issue a letter stating that national coaches can coach Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division teams only to be shot down by the council.
The second is that it did not sit to discuss possible foreign coaches, but were told about the plans to hire a Dutch coach and assistant to take over the reigns of the national team from interim coach Tai Beng Hai.
The coaching committee chairman is the only one who was consulted as even though the Dutch coach has been offered Euro 10,000, while his assistant Euro 6,000 to coach Malaysia.
"I called for a coaching committee meeting today (yesterday) to clear the air on appointments of coaches for the MHL. I told my members that I was placed under undue pressure by the MHF secretary (Hashim Yusoff) to issue the letter with the believe that the National Sports Council and the MHF president supports this.
"However, I found out that the MHF president and council members are against the move to allow NSC paid coaches to handle MHL teams when I attended the AGM in Kuantan. That is why I have called for a meeting today.
"And the coaching committee members agreed that NSC paid coaches Tai Beng Hai, K. Dharmaraj, K. Gobinathan, Nor Saiful Zaini, Nor Azlan Bakar and Lailin Abu Hassan can't coach MHL teams.
"This decision was made because the coaching committee want to eradicate bias and favouritism when players are seelcted for national duty," said Dr Balbir.
And then Balbir revealed that his committee members did not sit to discuss, about the plans to hire a foreign coach.
"The matter was brought up during the AGM, and I and my committee members (who are state hockey officials who attend the AGM), knew about it then," said Balbir.
And then the fact that a total of Euro 16,000, not including housing and other allowances, will be paid monthly to the foreign coach and his assistant was revealed after TimeSport found out that the coach was in Malaysia to negotiate the terms of employment.

Lets get the basics right first

TOP of the world, with sound development plans. FIH Pic/ Stanislas Brochier.

AFTER two days of action in the Melbourne Champions Trophy, hosts Australia have shown to the world what systematic development, and playing in the Dutch League can achieve.
The Aussies blasted South Korea 4-0 and then went on a 7- 2 rampage against the Netherlands. England Germany and Spain are next on their warpath, and if they enter the final unbeaten, Australia will be difficult to stop in the New Delhi World Cup as well.
The top six teams of the world are involved in the Cham pions Trophy, and these are the teams which Champions Challenge I cast Argentina, New Zealand, Pakistan and hosts India need to beat if they want to play in the semi-finals of the New Delhi World Cup in February.
And where does that leave 16th ranked Malaysia? We are fourth in the Champions Challenge II, which show-casts Japan, France, Austria, Chile, Russia, Poland and Ireland.
Development is on an ad-hoc basis, and the schools have forsaken sports for studies, while State HA’s are angry that whatever talent they produce, is shanghaied to the Bandar Penawar and Bukit Jalil Sports Schools.
And it looks like studying in the two Sports Schools is going to be a yardstick for hockey players to don national colours in the near future. The trend is already there, as the majority of our national under-18 players are from BJSS.
Malaysia played a series of matches with the Australians before the New Zealand World Cup Qualifier, and even won 1- 0 once only to be blasted in the other matches.
Australia were, then, not with their best, as six of their top players were in action in the Dutch League. And the amazing part is that just after five weeks of playing together, the senior, juniors and the six from the Dutch League are clicking so well in the Champions Trophy.
This is a result of playing the same style from school, clubs, age-group teams, right up to the national seniors.
Australia were also the semi-finals in the Junior World Cup, and this goes to show that they will be among the top four for years to come.
The same can’t be said about Malaysia, who have had an Australian coach in Terry Walsh, and Germans Volker Knapp and Paul Lissek but instead of moving up, and now in the Champions Challenge II group.
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) will announce their foreign coach, if they secure one, on December 13, and lets hope he can work with the rojak system in this country as next year, the Azlan Shah Cup, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the Asian Champions Trophy awaits the poor chap.

Ismail Abu for KL Hockey Club

ISMAIL Abu being chased by Bangladesh players in the Asia Cup in Kuantan. He will turn out for KL Hockey Club in the MHL Premier Division.

THE Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division starts on Dec 4, but until yesterday, three teams have yet to submit the name of their coaches.
Debutants KL Hockey Club, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional submitted their team lists to the Malaysian Hockey Fed eration (MHF) minus the coaches names.
The Premier League will start with a Charity Shield between Sapura and Tenaga Nasional at the Tun Razak Stadium which will be telecast live.
Double champions Ernst and Young withdrew this season, but it looks like a re-branding exercise as all their players are now with the KL Hockey Club outfit.
Even Ismail Abu, who was dropped from the World Cup Qualifier for playing truant, is listed with KLHC.
The some of the former and national players with KLHC are S. Baljit Singh, Chua Boon Huat, Shahrun Nabil, Harvinder singh, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Azlan Misron, Kelvinder Singh and Megat Azrafiq.
Nur Insafi of Penang have roped in 16 foreign players and eight locals to strengthen their challenge.
Twelve are from India, five from Pakistan and one from Egypt.
Imran Warsi, a former Pakistan junior international and budding penalty corner flicker is also with Nur Insafi. The Egyptian, a first in the MHL, is Karim Sherif.
Brothers Jiva and Jiwan Mohan are listed with Sapura, as well as former skipper S. Kuhan. However, Sapura will still be relying on former internationals, and it will be interesting to see how they stack up against KLHC and Nur Insafi.
Tenaga Nasional also have a healthy dose of national players with S. Kumar, seven-time voted best goalkeeper in international tournaments, between the posts.
Madzli Ikmar, C. Baljit Singh, Sallehin Ghani, S. Selvaraju and Amin Rahim will be the pillars in Tenaga Nasional.
And interestingly, budding striker Fazial Shaari, 18, will be making his debut with Tenaga Nasional after a good show in the Junior World Cup as well as the New Zealand World Cup Qualifier.
The cast is ready, and await the naming of the three coaches before the show gets on its way.

Perak get off to great start

DEFENDING champions Perak got off to a rousing start in the National Under-14 hockey tournament when they ham mered hosts Pahang 5-1 at the Kuantan Stadium yesterday.
However, silver medallists Kuala Lumpur went down to a shock 2-0 defeat to Negri Sembilan.
The Negri win was initiated by Fakrul Razi with a field goal in the 23rd minute, while Mohamed Izwan made sure with a 42nd minute field goal.
RESULTS: Group A: Perak 5 Pahang 1, Penang 4 Kelantan 1; Group B: Kuala Lumpur 0 Negri Sembilan 2, Selangor 1 Malacca 1.
TODAY: Group A: Perlis v Kelantan, Perak v Penang; Group B: Terengganu v Malacca, Kuala Lumpur v Selangor.
TOMORROW: Group A: Pahang v Penang, Perlis v Perak; Group B: Negri Sembilan v Selangor, Terengganu v Kuala Lumpur.