UniKL boys beat national women's team

UNIVERSITI Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) started their MHF-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League Division One campaign on a promising note when they beat the National Women’s (MWHA) hockey team 3-1 at the Seremban II Stadium yesterday.
Day one of the JHL also saw another surprise in Division Two when Datuk Taha player Amirul Iskanariah picked up all three colours, starting with a green then yellow and finally a red card while playing against Tunku Besar Secondary School of Tampin. TBSS won the match 3-0.
Bandar Penawar Sports School-Thunderbolts also showed potential when they hammered Bandar Penawar Sports School Juniors 5-1 at the BPSS pitch.
UniKL too a 3-0 lead off Nor Aqmal Gaffar (26th) and Amir Farid (27th, 34th) while MWHA managed to reduce the deficit off Siti Noor Amarina in the 53rd minute but that is as far as they went.
UniKL, who played in the Malaysia Hockey League this season, started off nervously as they were playing with the opposite gender, but as the match progressed, they became more confident and rose to the challenge.
“Of course my boys felt a little awkward playing against the ladies, but after 10 minutes, the ladies showed that they mean business by attacking from all flanks.
“My boys became more confident after scoring the first goal, and after that, the fact that they were playing against a ladies outfit was forgotten as they went for a win,” said UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran.
The Malaysian women’s team are in training for the Chile World Cup qualifier later this year. However, if they win the title, they are eligible for the prize money.
RESULTS: Division One: BJSS 2 BJSS Juniors 0, Anderson 2 PJCC 0, BPSS Thunderbolts 5 BPSS Juniors 1, Malaysian Women’s Hockey Association (MWHA) 1 UniKL 3.
Division Two: Penang Free School 1 Ipoh City Council 1, Datuk Taha Juniors 0 Tunku Besar Juniors 3, SMK Pengkalan Permatang 0 Sabah Sports Council 10.
TOMORROW: Division One -- PJCC v BPSS Thunderbolt (Tun Razak Stadium, 4.30pm), Kelantan v UniKL (Kuala Terengganu Stadium).
Division Two: Matri v MBI-MSN (Kangar), TBSS v SML PP (Tampin), Sabah v Datuk Taha (Pandamaran).
Matches start at 5pm.

STANDINGS


DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pts
BP Thunderbolt 1 1 0 0 5 1 3
UniKL 1 1 0 0 3 1 3
Bukit Jalil SS 1 1 0 0 2 0 3
Anderson 1 1 0 0 2 0 3
MWHA 1 0 0 1 1 3 0
BJSS Juniors 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
Petaling Jaya CC 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
BP Juniors 1 0 0 1 1 5 0
Kelantan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


DIVISION TWO
P W D L F A Pts
Sabah 1 1 0 0 10 0 3
Tunku Besar 1 1 0 0 3 0 3
Penang Frees 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
Ipoh CC 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
Datuk Taha 1 0 0 1 0 3 0
Kuala Selangor 1 0 0 1 0 10 0
Johor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MATRI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pahang 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Don't bet on five-time double champs BJSS

2009: On a high: Bukit Jalil Sports School players celebrate with the trophies and mock cheques after beating Bandar Penawar Sports School 5-4 on penalties to win the 2009 overall title. — KEVIN TAN / The Star

THIS season’s MHF-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey league will see an exciting fight for the title, and placing the bet on five- time double champions Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) will be a risky gamble.
The JHL will also feel the void of two pioneer members, Old La Sallians Association of Klang (Olak) and Tenaga Nasional, as one has called it a day, while the other has combined forces to become stronger.
Olak cited financial reasons for their pull out after playing for 15 straight years since the JHL made its debut in 1995, while Tenaga has combined forces with Bandar Penawar Sports School and will play under the BPSS-Thunderbolt banner.
The merger has made them as the early favourites and BJSS acknowledged that they will have a hard time winning even one title.
The other teams in the nine-team Division One are the Junior teams of Bukit Jalil and Bandar Penawar along with Kijang Mas Kelantan, Anderson Ipoh, MBPJ and new comers Universiti KL and the national women's hockey team (MWHA).
The Kelantan team and Anderson are also considered as potential contenders but it will be interesting to see how the MWHA team fare since they will be playing against the boys.
The women’s team is the outfit that will play in the World Cup qualifier in Chile later this month, where only the gold medallists will play in the World Cup in Argentina.
In the JHL, The top five teams will qualify for the knockout stage with three coming from the lower Division Two.
BJSS coach S. Prakash said that they expected an open title race and it would be foolish to underestimate any of the teams.
“All the teams have hired national juniors and many of my experienced players have also been snapped up these teams.
“We cannot expect to have it easy and neither will this be a two-horse race like the previous two years,” he said.
BJSS won the double in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and have been the League champions since 2003.
The BPSS-Thunderbolt combination should be a top draw but it remains to be seen if they can deliver.
MWHA coach Yahya Atan said that for them it is the chance to gain quality practice matches.
“So we will play hard and try for the title as this will give my team the much needed match practice under match con ditions.
“We are serious and I hope the teams will not take it easy against us,” he said.
The women are also eligible for the points as well as prize money that comes with the title.
TODAY: Division One: BJSS v BJSS Juniors (KLHA Sta dium), Anderson v PJCC (Azlan Shah Stadium), BPSS Thun derbolts v BPSS Juniors (Bandar Penawar Stadium), Malaysian Women’s Hockey Association (MWHA) v UniKL (Seremban Two Stadium).
Division Two: Penang Free School v Ipoh City Council (USM Stadium), Datuk Taha Juniors v Tunku Besar Juniors (Tampin Stadium), SMK Pengkalan Permatang v Sabah Sports Council (Pandamaran Stadium).
All matches start at 5pm.

Updesh: Raju is an asset

FORMER national hockey player Updesh Singh is perplexed as to why the Razak Cup and Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) were used as a yardstick to sideline S. Selvaraju who is now playing in the French League.
Updesh, who played alongside national chief coach Stephen van Huizen in the Malaysian national team, is now based in France and coaching Racing Club de France, where Selvaraju is attached to.
“I read on the Internet Van Huizen had commented that Selvaraju can’t be considered for the national team because he did not play in the MHL and the Razak Cup.
“There is something really wrong with the selection pro cess if the two domestic tournaments are used instead of his progress report in the French League,” said Updesh in a telephone interview yesterday.
According to Updesh, the club has played two matches and Selvaraju scored a goal in each match.
“He is an asset to my club and scored two goals in two matches and he is also coaching the junior girls’ and boys’ teams when he is not playing.
“I believe Selvaraju is making more progress as a player in France, than if he had played in the MHL and Razak Cup,” said Updesh.
The national players checked into camp on Wednesday but the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) have yet to release the name list.
“Some of the players called for training have yet to receive their letters and that is why we can’t release the training team list to the Press.
“An announcement will be made tomorrow (today) after all the players had received their notifications from the MHF. All I can say now is that Selvaraju is not on the list,” said national team manager Datuk Dr S.S. Cheema.
The trainees are in camp to prepare for the Azlan Shah Cup which will be held in Ipoh from May 6-16.
Selvaraju was equally surprised that his venture abroad is looked at with skewed eyes.
“I will be playing in France until the middle of May which means I can’t play in the Azlan Shah Cup as well. However, I hope my absence will not shut the door on me because I would like to represent the country in the Commonwealth and Asian Games if given a fair chance in selection.
“I have only played two matches here, but have caught the eye of another coach who has offered me to play in Belgium,” said Selvaraju.
And if a progress report is what the local coaches want, Updesh will provide it: “Malaysian coaches can rest assured that we will give them Selvaraju’s progress report when his stint is over, and I hope they recognise a good player, when one comes along,” said Updesh.
Updesh, who was in Malaysia to watch both the semi-finals of the MHL, said the standard of hockey in Malaysia has dropped tremendously.
“And I read that the MHF president (Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah) was also disappointed with the standard of play in the Razak Cup. This only shows that Selvaraju took the right step moving abroad to make him a better player,” said Updesh.

Lissek back at what he knows best

COMMENT by Jugjet Singh

GERMAN Paul Lissek is back in Malaysia after a brief stint with the Australian World Cup winning team, and the National Sports Council (NSC) has entrusted him to scout for under-14 talent across the nation.
Development was his strongest point when he was in Germany before becoming Malaysian coach for the 1998 Commonwealth Games, and he has come a full circle after a decade.
And there is more development news for hockey en thusiasts, as the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) will embark on a nation-wide ‘Satu Mas’ programme, also aimed at the under-14 group.
Both the programmes, by the MHF and NSC, will not clash but compliment each other and start this month.
Lissek will conduct coaching clinics at Smart Schools, and identify talent, while the Satu Mas programme will see each state concentrating on 20 of their best for one year.
The budget for the Satu Mas programme is RM2 million a year, and it is projected to continue for at least five years.
The idea is simple, states select their coaches, who will pick the best 20 under-14 players and train them for one year, and receive RM10,000 per-month for the exercise.
With 14 states under the programme, 280 youth will benefit from the plan and in five years, Malaysia will have 1,400 hockey players from the ages of 14-19.
Doing the match is simpler than making it into a reality, but first, the MHF council needs to be commended for coming up with a plan.
But it will remain a plan, like so many before it, if the states do not make full use of this opportunity, as they only have to provide the coaches and players, while money will not be their problem, as the government has approved a budget for it.
The MHF, in reality, has been forced to conduct their own development work, as schools have not been supportive of hockey in the last five years, and only die-hard supporters like Anderson of Ipoh, Tengku Besar Secondary School of Negri Sembilan, Malacca High School, Setapak High School and a smattering of others have been consistently prodding their students to take up the sport.
Coming back to Lissek, the German was supposed to head for Pakistan after the World Cup, but changed his mind over security reasons.
He is no stranger to Malaysia, and Malaysians know him well.
All this while he held the wrong post, and finally after a decade of experimenting with him, the NSC realised that he is, at best, a development coach and should be left in that capacity.
The council meeting on Sunday endorsed Lissek and the Satu Mas programme, now lets see if it will produce the desired result in five years time.

Selvaraju not on training list

NATIONAL chief coach Stephen van Huizen has selected 30 players after watching the Razak Cup in Kuantan, and S. Selvaraju is not among them.
Selvaraju, a hard-running forward, did not play in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) as well as the Razak Cup, as he chose to play in the French League.
“I have given the training list to the MHF (Malaysian Hockey Federation) for endorsement and I was told they will make the announcement soon.
“I am not at liberty to disclose names, but all those who played in the MHL as well as the Razak Cup were eligible to be called up for national training,” said Stephen.
The newly appointed coach said he did not name Selvaraju because he does not know the players status.
“He chose to play in the French League instead of the MHL and Razak Cup so I do not know his progress. He was carrying an injury before he went to France, and since I do not know if he has recovered or not, I have left out his name.”
However, Jiwa Mohan, who is working and playing in Australia, will be considered if the MHF and National Sports Council (NSC) can foot his bill.
“Jiwa played in the MHL and his situation is different because of the cost factor involved. If the MHF and NSC are willing to foot his travelling and other bills, he will be considered because we have to important tournaments back- to-back and we need a big pool of players in training,” said Stephen.
Malaysia will play in the Azlan Shah Cup in a months time, and after that it is the Commonwealth and then Asian Games.
Team manager Datuk Dr S.S. Cheema, who was New Delhi during the World Cup, said this is Malaysia’s best chance to win the Asian Games gold medal.
“India and Pakistan are no longer strong sides and South Korea are only relying on fitness. I did not see anything special in the Korean side during the World Cup, and I personally feel that if Malaysia are to win gold in the Asian Games, this is the right time to make a serious push,” said Cheema.
An Asian games gold will take Malaysian directly into the 2012 London Olympics, without having to go though another tough qualifier.