Nur Insafi bombshell

Unbridled joy: MHL Premier Division champions KLHC players celebrate with the prizes yesterday. — A. MALEX YAHAYA / The Star

NUR Insafi of Penang beat Sapura 4-1 at the Bukit Serindit Stadium in Malacca yesterday, and then threw a bombshell when their coach S. Thaitchana said he will withdraw the team from the quarter-finals if the Malaysia Hockey Fed eration (MHF) say no to his home-and-away request.
The MHF plan to hold all the quarter-final matches, starting on Jan 29, in Kuala Lumpur, but Thaitchana feels it will rob him of home ground advantage.
“My stand is clear, if the MHF do not allow us to play in Penang in the two-leg quarters, I will withdraw the team. It does not make sense as the MHF said they are keen to promote hockey at states, and then deny us the chance to play in front of our crowd,” said Thaitchana.
Thaitchana also said that he has made his request known to MHF, but they said they will not budge from their decision.
“If they are not willing to budge, I am also not willing to budge, and I am prepared to face the consequences of being banned.
“We can live with that as it has become pointless playing in the MHL if it is run unprofessionally,” said Thaitchana who is also the club president.
UniKL-Ibil also dished out a surprise when they held Maybank 4-4 in the final Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division league match.
It was actually a full dress rehearsal for the quarter-finals, as both teams will square off again in the last eight on Jan 29.
And the other set of quarter-finalists will also see Nur Insafi and Sapura squaring off again.
However, both the results can’t be taken as a yardstick for the knock-our stage, as it has no bearings on the standings.
K. Gobinathan set the tone for Maybank with a fifth minute penalty corner goal, but Nor Faeez Ibrahim equalised in the seventh minute, and the match went into high gear.
Nor Faeez then gave Unikl-Ibil the lead in the ninth minute, and Taufik Hamid made it 3-1 in the 27th minute.
Maybank came back strongly with goals from Gobinathan (28th), Hafifi Hafiz (40th) and Suhaimi Ibrahim (52nd).
But in the final minute, Amir Farid scored a field goal to give the young side a well deserved draw.
In another match, Nur Insafi scored off Vinod Kumar (10th, 66th), Kul Bushan (15th) and Nur Hrsikesa (56th). The Sapura goal was scored by S. Kuhan in the 34th minute.
RESULTS: Sapura 1 Nur Insafi 4, UniKL-Ibil 4 Maybank 4, Tenaga Nasional 4 KL Hockey Club 3.


P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 10 8 1 1 34 13 25
TENAGA 10 8 0 2 27 11 24
MAYBANK 10 4 4 2 20 15 16
SAPURA 10 3 2 5 17 17 11
NUR INSAFI 10 2 1 7 14 34 7
UNIKL 10 0 2 8 9 30 2

New Straits Times rule hockey and netball

NST hockey and netball players with their medals.

A SHAHIR OTHMAN field goal was enough to seal victory for the New Straits Times editorial team in the NPC-Milo Inter-Media 9-a-Side Hockey and Netball Championships in Kelab Aman, Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The NST “B” team made it a double for the newspaper when they emerged champions in the netball tournament after edging the National Press Club team 4-3 in an intense final.
The hockey final saw NST “A”, which was the side representing the editorial department, face-off with NST “B”, a combined team of staff from all other departments.
NST “B” led by news editor MK Megan were the hot favourites entering the final, but were pinned back for most of the 20-minute final, until the point when goalmouth melee in the 15th minute was settled by Shahir, who hit the board from close range.
The Malay Mail finished third in the round-robin five-team competition, while Bernama finished fourth.
Champions of both competitions went home with a RM1,200 cash prize, while the runners-up took home RM1,000, RM800 for third and RM500 went to the fourth placed team.

UniKL-Ibil makes good investment

UNIKL-Ibil ended-up at the bottom of the pool, but their coach I. Vickneswaran and sponsors are more than happy with their young side’s debut performance in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division.
The team has an average age of 22, and they met their more experienced opponents head-on. Their only heavy defeat was a 5-1 drubbing against Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC), which is made up of national players.
UniKL can hold their heads up, as they only lost 1-0 to Sapura, and 2-0 to Tenaga Nasional.
“Our position on the standings does not look good, but I as well as our sponsors and University are happy with the maturity shown by the young players in their debut MHL,” said Vickneswaran, a former International himself.
The youngest in the team is 16-year-old Taufik Hamid, who started jittery, but is now a regular in the side.
“Taufik was a bundle of nerves when I first fielded him, but he has shown tremendous improvement, and is now a regular on the starting list. I see a bright future for the lad, and his start was made possible by the faith placed by the University, and our sponsors.
UniKL staff make it a point to watch the boys play, while Ibil is an IT company whose other sporting interest is Rallying in Felda areas.
The boys scored a total of five goals and let in 26 in nine matches, and as comparison, second from the bottom Nur Insafi who have 16 foreign players from India and Pakistan scored 10 and let in 33 goals.
Today, the six teams will be playing their final league match before the quarter-finals begin on Jan 29. However, all six positions have already been cemented last weekend, and the matches will be purely warm-ups.
League champions KLHC will pocket RM30,000, Tenaga RM20,000 and Maybank RM15,000.
Prize money for Division one will also be presented today with champions UiTM receiving RM20,000, ATM Airod RM15,000 and Malacca City Council RM10,000.
In the quarter-finals, KLHC will square off against Division One runners-up Airod, while Tenaga Nasional will meet Division One champions UiTM.
The other quarter-final, first-leg matches, will see May bank playing UniKL-IBIL and Sapura squaring off against Nur Insafi.
TODAY: Sapura v Nur Insafi (4.30pm), UniKL-Ibil v May bank (6.30pm), Tenaga Nasional v KL Hockey Club (8.30pm).
All matches at the Bukit Serindit Stadium in Malacca.


STANDINGS

P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 9 8 1 0 31 9 25
TENAGA 9 7 0 2 23 8 21
MAYBANK 9 4 3 2 16 11 15
SAPURA 9 3 2 4 16 13 11
NUR INSAFI 9 1 1 7 10 33 4
UNIKL 9 0 1 8 5 26 1

Kumar holds the Trump Card

THE Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) has been reduced to a prize presentation ceremony in Malacca this Saturday, but Tenaga Nasional will be on a mission of their own.
League champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) and Tenaga will square off in a match of little importance as the positions were decided last weekend itself.
But the runners-up want to prove a point by smashing KLHC’s unbeaten run before the quarter-finals start.
“Win, draw or lose will not chance our fortunes, but there is pride to play for. And my team will give their best for the sake of hockey, and we will also be looking to break KLHC’s unbeaten run in Malacca,” said Tenaga coach Manjit Singh.
KLHC could only edge Sapura 1-0 for the title, and in an earlier League encounter, Tenaga only lost 3-2.
“We were narrowly beaten by KLHC, and I see this return leg as a great opportunity to boost the moral of my players before the knock-out stage.
“We lost one title, and will be out for the Overall title, and that is why a winning start in Malacca is important for us,” said Manjit.
Tenaga have been kept alive by national goalkeeper S. Kumar, and his form will play a crucial role in their quest to beat KLHC who have more strikers than defenders in their side.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) Umpires board chairman Amarjit Singh has been appointed by the International Hockey Federation to officiate at the New Delhi World Cup next month.
And there is more good news from the umpires section as Eric Khor Kim Lai, 23, from Malacca and K. Illango, 24, from Penang have been promoted to International status by the FIH.
Penang finally can lay claim to an International umpire after a 23-year hiatus, as the last to hold the stature was Yap Guan Keat.
On another note, Petaling Jaya City Council will be holding a two-day trials to select players for the Junior Hockey League.
The trials will be held at the PJMC stadium this weekend from 4pm-7pm. For details, contact coach Paul Raj 017- 3715428.


STANDINGS

P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 9 8 1 0 31 9 25
TENAGA 9 7 0 2 23 8 21
MAYBANK 9 4 3 2 16 11 15
SAPURA 9 3 2 4 16 13 11
NUR INSAFI 9 1 1 7 10 33 4
UNIKL 9 0 1 8 5 26 1

Brasa livid over stadium delay

AGE CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi: Indian hockey coach Jose Brasa will have to wait for at least 15 more days to get his squad to train at the National Stadium here — venue for the World Cup beginning February 28.
On Tuesday, Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi said the venue was "almost ready" and would be made available to the national squad from the first week of February.
"The stadium is in the final lap. I hope the Indian team can start training here in the first or second week of next month," Kalmadi said.
The announcement comes a month after the IOA chief had set December 15 as the "final date" for completion of work at the venue.
Brasa, on the other hand, is livid and wants his squad to shift from Pune to Delhi at the earliest. "I do not understand why there is a delay in sending the team to Delhi. The turf has been laid, the floodlights are ready... they can complete the rest of the stadium side by side. We just need the turf to begin training. The players have to acclimatise to the facilities as we are playing the World Cup here," Brasa said.
Meanwhile, International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Leandro Negre, along with several other officials, visited the National Stadium on the day.
Said Negre, "The FIH had a lot of concerns that things were not organised properly in one of our member countries. But now we are very happy with how things are moving here. The stadium is coming up nicely, and will be one of the most important hockey stadiums in the world."
Incidentally, there won’t be any tournament to test the facilities at the venue before the World Cup following the cancellation of the four-nation event earlier this month. But the FIH president said a test event was not mandatory for a hosting nation.
"It is not mandatory but we had recommended it as the stadium is a new one. As far as I know a few matches will be played here before the World Cup," he said.
Sports ministry objects to Mander’s appointment
Meanwhile, the sports ministry on Tuesday objected to G.S. Mander’s appointment as the returning officer for next month’s Hockey India elections, saying no one from either HI or the Indian Olympic Association could be part of the electoral process. "GS Mander heads the Wrestling Federation of India and is also an IOA vice-president and the government has already made it clear that no one from either Hockey India or IOA should be part of the electoral process," said S.K. Mendiratta, government-appointed observer to HI elections.

The Asian Age