UniKL a step away from title

NEWCOMERS UniKL further consolidated their chances of winning the Division One MHF-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League title when they beat Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) Juniors 3-1 in a rain postponed match yesterday.
Both the teams were supposed to play on Friday, but the match was washed off by heavy rain and they completed their fixtures yesterday.
UniKL got their goals off Syamim Yusof (15th), Sabri Mohamed (23rd) and Amir Farid (62nd). Shahril Saabah (45th) scored the BPSS Juniors goal.
UniKL are just one match away from winning the title, as they have 19 points from seven matches and play their final fixtures against Bandar Penawar Sports School Thunderbolt at the KLHA Stadium on May 21.
Thunderbolt have maximum points from six matches and play the Malaysian Women's National team (MWHA) in Seremban today.
UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran said: "It’s our debut season and we just one win away from creating history. We have five days to train and will give our best against Thunderbolt."
RESULTS: UniKL 3 BPSS Juniors 1.
TODAY: Division One: BPSS Juniors v Kelantan (Bandar Penawar Stadium, 5pm); MWHA v Thunderbolt (Seremban II, 5pm).
Division Two: Matri vs Kuala Selangor (Kangar, 5pm).

Mayhem as Korea enter final

THERE was drama, plenty of it in the Pakistan and Korea match and in the end Korea prevailed to make the final with a 4-2 win.
Both teams had to win by two clear goals to progress into the final at the expense of Australia.
Pakistan went ahead in the 31st minute when Mohamad Zubair scored after a botched penalty corner attempt by skipper Muhammad Imran. The ball was played out of the semi circle by Muhammad Touseeq who relayed it to Zubair at the far post to knock it in.
At that stage Pakistan needed another goal to progress into the final. But Korea came charging out in the second half and equalized via Lee Nam Yong in the 38th minute.
Korea were awarded a penalty stroke in the 46th minute and Nam Yong easily put the ball past Imran Shah, and now it was Korea who needed another goal to make the final.
However Pakistan came fighting back and Imran sent in a low flick off their sixth penalty corner in the 55th minute to tie the match at 2-2.
In the 66th minute the situation turned chaotic as umpire Warren McCully awarded a penalty stroke to Korea. The Pakistanis protested and in the melee yellow and red cards were shown. Pakistan players refused to continue and manager Khajawa Junaid was seen discussing the issue with Daljit Singh, the Technical Official from Malaysia.
Imran was shown all three cards, green, yellow and red by McCully and it further aggravated the situation as far as Pakistan was concerned.
Tournament Director Paul Richards then stepped in and by that time the match had been stopped for well over five minutes.
After the fracas, Nam Hyun Woo scored from the spot to put Korea 3-2 ahead and they needed just one more goal, playing against the ten men Pakistani side.
Fareed Ahmad was shown the yellow in the 67th minute after Korea were awarded a penalty corner and Hyun Woo scored with two minutes on the clock.
Korea’s Ro Jong Hwan was then sent to the sin bin with less then two minutes remaining and Aamir Shazad joined his captain on the red card list with one minute remaining.

Four enough for Aussies

By Azlanshahcup.com

AUSTRALIA defeated China 4-0 and will now await the Pakistan and Korea match to see if they make the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
Their margin of win, four goals saw them oust Malaysia from being in contention for a place in the final.
And now the Aussies will have to wait for the outcome of the Pakistan/Korea match and a win by two clear goals by either team will see Australia out.
Australia got off to a perfect start when Kieran Govers fired home a penalty corner in the 3rd minute.
They doubled their advantage in the 21st minute, with Govers netting his second of the day as the Chinese seem to be more affected by the heat then the Australians.
Govers could have completed his hattrick in the 34th minute but missed from six yards out and at the break Australia led 2-0.
China created two good chances early on in the second half but muffed them both. And Australia took full advantage to force their third penalty corner in the 43rd minute.
But Chirstopher Ciriello’s attempt was pushed out by Si Rifeng. And in the 45th minute, once again Rufeng kept Ciriello at bay with a diving save.
Ciriello finally got it right in the 50th minute when his low drive beat Rufeng all the way. And in the very next minute Grant Schubert made it 4-0 .

Thunderbolt sttrikes BJSS

BANDAR Penawar Sports School Thunderbolt came back from a goal
down to beat double champions Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) 2-1 to
top the MHF-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League (MJHL) Division One
standings.
Thunderbolt have maximum points after six matches, with two matches
to play against the national women’s team tomorrow and UniKL on May
21.
BJSS took the lead of a penalty corner by G. Kavin Kartik in the 17th
minute, but Thunderbolt equalised in the 30th minute off a field goal by
Firhan Ashaari.
Thunderbolt scored the winning goal through Rasul Yusof in the 55th
minute.
Thuderbolt coach Wan Roslan Rahman said: "We won, but I am not
happy with my players performance. We did not have Faisal (Saari), who is playing in the Azlan Shah Cup, and this affected our performance.
"Few of my players suffered hamstring injuries in this match, indicating
that they are not fit."
We have to work on the players fitness," said Wan Roslan.
The match between UniKL and BPSS Juniors was postponed to 5pm
today because of heavy downpour.

DIVISION ONE: BPSS Thunderbolt 2 BJSS 1; MWHA 2 Kelantan 3; BPSS
niors vs UniKL (match postponed to today, because of rain)
DIVISION TWO: Penang Free 3 Kuala Selangor 0; Pahang 4 Datuk Taha 1;
Tunku Besar 4 Matri 0


P W D L F A Pts

THUNDERBOLT 6 6 0 0 33 5 18
UNIKL 6 5 1 0 29 6 16
BJSS 7 4 2 1 19 6 14
PJCC 8 4 1 3 20 15 13
ANDERSON 8 3 1 4 14 28 10
BPSS JUNIORS 6 3 0 3 10 12 9
KELANTAN 7 1 2 4 10 33 5
BJSS JUNIORS 8 1 1 6 5 25 4
MWHA 6 0 0 6 7 17 0

DIVISION TWO

P W D L F A Pts

SABAH 7 6 0 1 32 7 18
PAHANG 7 6 0 1 30 12 18
IPOH CC 7 5 2 0 22 5 17
TUNKU BESAR 8 4 2 2 23 11 14
FREES 6 2 2 2 15 14 8
MATRI 7 2 1 4 10 12 7
DATUK TAHA 7 1 1 5 9 26 4
SELANGOR 7 1 0 6 4 41 3
JOHOR 8 0 2 6 12 29 2

FIXTURES: Today -- UniKL v BPSS Juniors (Bandar Penawar, 5pm).
TOMORROW: Division One: BPSS Juniors v Kelantan (Bandar Penawar
Stadium, 5pm); MWHA v Thunderbolt (Seremban II, 5pm).
Division Two: Matri vs Kuala Selangor (Kangar, 5pm).

Super Saturday for Malaysia and Razie

WHILE Malaysia's chances of playing in the final of the 19th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hangs from a thin thread, 23-year-old defender Razie Rahim is set to score the biggest goal in his life.
As Malaysian team will watch from the sidelines. hoping that India, Australia, Pakistan or South Korea fumble and create one opening that will lead them into the final, Razie will be in Padang Serai, Kedah, getting married to Nadia Mokhtar.
Nadia, 22, is also a national hockey player who just missed the cut to the World Cup Qualifiers in Chile due to injury.
Both the players fell head-over-heels in 2003 during the Southern Skies tournament in Australia, where Razie was representing Bandar Penawar Sports School while Nadia was playing for Bukit Jalil Sports School.
Razie was given a grand send off by his team-mates after beating China 2-1 on Thursday, when his parents, Abdul Rahim Harun and Salbiah Abdullah came to pick him up from the Azlan Shah Stadium.
But it is hockey right after tying the knot, as Razie will be back to play on Sunday, irrespective of Malaysia making the final or not.
“It is a big day for me and I hope to have the best wedding present if results go our way and we make the final,” said Razie.
“I will continue playing for the nation as long as my services are needed and I believe Nadia too will play her role in the women’s team.”
Razie will have to apply some special make up though, as he suffered a cut just below his jaw in the match against India on Wednesday, when the defender scored a field goal in the 5-2 rout.
Malaysian coach Stephen van Huizen will wait anxiously, as all three matches today could either see his charges play in the final, or placing match.
Australia play China first, and if the Australians score less than four goals, one contender will be knocked out.
The there is the South Korea-Pakistan match. Pakistan need to win by two goals, while South Korea by one goal to pip Malaysia.
And if both the matches fail to open the door for Malaysia, there is the India-Egypt match where India need just a win to play in the final.
Five teams will be battling for two spots in the final today, with Malaysia the only one hoping on a hand-out, which came about after they let in a goal 17 seconds from time in the 3-3 draw against Pakistan.