Army Juniors Div 1 champs, KLHC poised

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) are just one match away from lifting their sixth League title, provided they don't collapse big time in their next three matches.

But on paper, it looks almost impossible for them to lose the title, as they only have to pull off one win against Nur Insafi or Armed Forces-Airod next weekend, and the title will be theirs with a match to spare against Charity Shield holders Tenaga Nasional.

The club evolved from Ernst & Young, who won three League titles, while under the KLHC banner for the leat two seasons, they have won back-to-back to their credit.

KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj is confident his charges will not collapse at the finish line.

"I believe the title is ours, as we have three matches in hand, and only need three points. We will work to seal the title next weekend, and take it easy when we play Tenaga Nasional at the Malacca Stadium," said Dharmaraj.

With the title almost in the bag, Dharmaraj has already started planning for the quarter-finals to lay his hands on the TNB Cup.

This is where KLHC are a jinxed team, as they entered six Overall finals, but only have one title to show under the Ernet & Young banner, while they ended up as bridesmaid five times.

"Somehow, my players tend to freeze in the knock-out stages, and this is what I will work on, to improve in the next three matches.

"The strikers, as well as our penalty corner flicker have been on an upward trend, and I believe they will keep the momentum in the knock-out stage as well," said Dharmaraj.

KLHC have scored 60 goals and let in only 19, with their penalty corner flicker Razie Rahim contributing 13.

So, it looks like it will be a holiday in Malacca for KLHC, as they are touted to lift the title this weekend itself.

In Division One, Armed Forces Juniors emerged as League champions with two matches to spare when they beat Bandar Penawar Sports Sports School 3-1 yesterday.

The title came with promotion to Premier Division, and a spot in the quarter-finals.

Army's goals were scored by Shukri Aziz (43th), Szuhairi Aziz (49th) and Hanip Che Halim (52nd). The BPSS goal was scored by Shahril Saabah (eighth).

RESULTS -- DIVISION ONE: Ipoh City Hall 0 Universiti Sains Malaysia 3, UniTen 2 Bukit Jalil Sports School 2, Armed Forces Jnrs 3 Bandar Penawar Sports School 1.

DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pt

ATM JNR 10 9 1 0 27 7 28

BPSS 9 5 0 4 16 15 15

MALACCA CC 10 5 0 5 14 12 15

IPOH CH 11 4 2 5 18 23 14

BJSS 9 4 1 4 19 13 13

USM 10 3 0 7 16 28 9

UNITEN 9 1 2 6 9 21 5

One more match to claim title

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) placed one hand on the League title when they beat Sapura 3-0 in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League at the Tun Razak stadium yesterday.
Now, they only have to win one more match in the remaining three to confirm as League champions.
Razie Rahim made his presence felt again when he led KLHC to another sizzling encounter against Sapura, and by half-time, the defending League champions were leading by two goals.
The National No 2 penalty corner flicker stole the show with a powerful drag flick in the 20th minute to give KLHC the lead, and his second penalty corner attempt in the 27th minute was also accurate to the dot to take his tally to 13 goals.
Sapura were guilty of missing their chances, when they bungled four penalty corners in the first half, taken by their skipper S. Kuhan and South Korean Lim Woo Geun.
The second half was equally sizzling, until rain forced play to be stopped for 40 minutes in the 48th minute.
But it did not slow down the match, as Sapura won two consecutive penalty corners, but both were botched by poor stopping.
The ball was stolen nicely in the second botched penalty corner and Chua Boon Huat's reverse stick found Ismail Abu who slotted home the third goal with ease while sapura players were still in the KLHC 25-yard area.
In another match, UniKL beat Yayasan Negri Sembilan with Phillip Stahr the hat-trick hero with goals in the 11th, 29th and 66th minutes. The YNS goals were scored by Vivek Gupta (40th) and Deepak Thakur (67th).
Meanwhile, the bottom half clash between Nur Insafi and Armed Forces-Airod turned out to be a seven goal thriller, with the winning goal coming seconds from the final hooter.
The Army men eventually triumphed 4-3, even though they were down by two goals by the sixth minute itself.
R. Veerachamy slammed in the first in the fifth minute, and a minute later he was on target again to hand Nur Insafi a healthy 2-0 lead.
However, the Penang-based club crumbled big time after that as Azman Hassan (eighth) and Zulkifli Abdullah (25th, 59th) injected hope of an Army victory.
But in the 69th minute, Nur Insafi were awarded a penalty stroke, which was comfortably converted by Veerachamy for a hat-trick.
The joy of sharing points was crushed seconds later, as just after the restart, Armed Forces mounted an attack and Shahrul Amran handed his team full points.
RESULTS -- PREMIER DIVISION: Nur Insafi 3 Armed Forces-Airod 4, Sapura 0 Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club 3, Maybank 1 Tenaga Nasional 2, UniKL 3 Yayasan Negri Sembilan 2.
TODAY -- DIVISION ONE: Ipoh City Hall v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), UniTen v Bukit Jalil Sports School (KLHA Stadium, 5pm), Armed Forces Jnrs v Bandar Penawar Sports School (Bandar Penawar, 5pm).

PREMIER DIVISION

P W D L F A Pt
KLHC 13 11 1 1 60 19 34
TNB 13 9 1 3 37 16 28
UNIKL 13 8 3 2 24 18 27
SAPURA 13 8 0 5 35 26 24
YNS 14 7 0 7 42 38 21
NUR INSAFI 14 4 2 8 26 42 14
MAYBANK 13 3 3 7 14 20 12
ATM 14 3 0 11 17 50 9
UITM 13 2 0 11 18 44 6

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 9 8 1 0 24 6 25
BPSS 8 5 0 3 15 12 15
MALACCA CC 10 5 0 5 14 12 15
IPOH CH 10 4 2 4 18 20 14
BJSS 8 4 0 4 17 11 12
USM 9 2 0 7 13 28 6
UNITEN 8 1 1 6 7 19 4

KLHC whip YNS 7-2

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) whipped Yayasan Negri Sembilan (YNS) 7-2 to edge closer towards the League title in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin gave KLHC a big boost when he scored a third minute penalty corner goal, while Razie Rahim chipped in with a hat-trick from penalty corner flicks in the fifth, 16th and 23rd. The other KLHC goals were from Nabil Fiqri (20th), Tengku (64th) and Ismail Abu (67th).
YNS got their goals from Razlee Amree in the 28th and 50th minutes. He now holds the distinction of being the first local player to score for YNS, whose foreign legion had scored the other 38 goals.
Charity Shield holders Tenaga Nasional went on a 10-1 rampage against Armed Forces Airod to move up to second on the standings.
The Army men opted to play open hockey and were punished by Amin Rahim (5th, 41st), M. Kaliswaran (11th, 12th), Mahinder Singh (25th, 58th), Fairuz Ramli ( 37th, 41st), Firhan Ashaari (46th), Azammi Adabi (47th).
Fidous Ismail scored the solitary goal for Armed Forces in the 67th minute.
In another match, Lady Luck was again on Sapura's side when they edged Nur Insafi 4-2.
After lucky wins against Yayasan Negri Sembilan (2-1) and UiTM (2-1) last weekend, Sapura were expected to have it easy against the Penang side as they were without three of their Pakistani imports.
Former international Keevan Raj's injury further weakened Nur Insafi.
But Sapura almost paid the price as Nur Insafi botched a fifth minute penalty stroke when Nur Hrsikesa's attempt was saved by goalkeeper Nasihin Nubli.
Sapura took the lead off Skipper S. Kuhan in the 22nd minute, but P. Prabhakaran equalised three minutes later.
It was the same script in the second half, as Sapura regained the lead off Faizal Daud in the 36th minute but Prabhakaran levelled the score again in the 39th minute.
But the day belonged to Spura as Jiwa Mohan (62nd) and Kuhan (69th) made sure the three points were theirs.
"Yes, we are riding our luck so far but it is not a case of not playing well but our failure to convert chances," said Sapura coach I. Vikneswaran.
"The three points were vital as we want to finish as high as we after a poor start in the League. And from the look of things we can even finish as runners-up should some results go our way."
RESULTS -- PREMIER DIVISION: Sapura 4 Nur Insafi 2, Maybank 1 UiTM 0, Tenaga Nasional 10 Armed Forces-Airod 1, Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club 7 Yayasan Negri Sembilan 2.
PREMIER DIVISION: Today-- Nur Insafi v Armed Forces-Airod (4pm), Sapura v Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (6pm), Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (8pm), UniKL v Yayasan Negri Sembilan (KLHA Stadium, 7.30pm).
* All other matches at the Tun Razak Stadium.
RESULTS: DIVISION ONE -- UniTen 1 Ipoh City Hall 3, Armed Forces Jnrs 3 Bukit Jalil Sports School 2, Malacca City Council 3 Universiti Sains Malaysia 2, Bandar Penawar Sports School 0 Malacca 1.
Sunday: Ipoh City Hall v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), UniTen v Bukit Jalil Sports School (KLHA Stadium, 5pm), Armed Forces Jnrs v Bandar Penawar Sports School (Bandar Penawar, 5pm).

PREMIER DIVISION

PREMIER DIVISION

P W D L F A Pt
KLHC 12 10 1 1 57 19 31
TNB 12 8 1 3 35 15 25
UNIKL 12 7 3 2 21 16 24
SAPURA 12 8 0 4 35 23 24
YNS 13 7 0 6 40 35 21
NUR INSAFI 13 4 2 7 23 38 14
MAYBANK 12 3 3 6 13 18 12
UITM 13 2 0 11 18 44 6
ATM 13 2 0 11 13 47 6

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 9 8 1 0 24 6 25
BPSS 8 5 0 3 15 12 15
MALACCA CC 10 5 0 5 14 12 15
IPOH CH 10 4 2 4 18 20 14
BJSS 8 4 0 4 17 11 12
USM 9 2 0 7 13 28 6
UNITEN 8 1 1 6 7 19 4

YNS feel like lamb in slaughterhouse

YAYASAN Negri Sembilan (YNS) plan to keep the score low when they square off against title contenders Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League today.
KLHC have opened up a four-point lead and a win against YNS today and Sapura tomorrow will see them sailing towards the title as they only have to win one more match against two weak opponents.
If KLHC collect maximum points this weekend, they only have to beat either Nur Insafi or Armed Forces-Airod and the title will be their with a match to spare against Tenaga Nasional.
Knowing the score well, YNS manager M. Gobinathan is preparing for the worst.
“I believe KLHC will be in a rampaging mood as the title is theirs to lose right now. And with our Pakistan imports not available for both the matches this weekend, we will have no chance of upsetting KLHC, and instead, will try and keep the score low,” said Gobinathan.
In the first round, KLHC whipped YNS 6-3, while their next opponents Sapura also received a 6-2 drubbing.
KLHC, lasts season’s League champions, have only lost 2-0 to Tenaga Nasional in the Charity Shield, after which they went on to win nine and draw one match.
“The fixtures are very intimidating as we will be playing our last match against the only team that we have lost to. That is why I plan to have enough points to claim the title with at least two matches in hand, to avoid the unnecessary pressure in the last match against Tenaga,” said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
The YNS Pakistan back-bone returned home to play in an inter-department tournament, which was pre-agreed in their contracts.
Defender Mohamed Imran and forwards Shakeel Abbasi and Muhammad Waqas Sharif left to play for their departments, and that is why Gobinathan has thrown down the gauntlet. All three helped Pakistan beat Malaysia in the Asian Games final.
If KLHC survive this weekend, they play Nur Insafi (won 7-2) and Armed Forces-Airod (won 3-1) next and they only need three points to claim the League title, and have a well-deserved holiday in Malacca, as the encounter against Tenaga Nasional will turn into an exhibition, instead of pressure-cooker match.
PREMIER DIVISION: Friday -- Sapura v Nur Insafi (3.30pm), Maybank v UiTM (5.15pm), Tenaga Nasional v Armed Forces-Airod (7pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v Yayasan Negri Sembilan (8.45pm).
* All matches at the Tun Razak Stadium.
Saturday: Nur Insafi v Armed Forces-Airod (4pm), Sapura v Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (6pm), Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (8pm), UniKL v Yayasan Negri Sembilan (KLHA Stadium, 7.30pm).
* All other matches at the Tun Razak Stadium.
DIVISION ONE: Friday -- UniTen v Ipoh City Hall (KLHA Stadium, 5pm), Armed Forces Jnrs v Bukit Jalil Sports School (Education Ministry, 5pm), Malacca City Council v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Malacca, 5pm).
Sunday: Ipoh City Hall v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), UniTen v Bukit Jalil Sports School (KLHA Stadium, 5pm), Armed Forces Jnrs v Bandar PE nawar Sports School (Bandar Penawar, 5pm).

PREMIER DIVISION

P W D L F A Pt
KLHC 11 9 1 1 50 17 28
UNIKL 12 7 3 2 21 16 24
TNB 11 7 1 3 25 14 22
SAPURA 11 7 0 4 31 21 21
YNS 12 7 0 5 38 28 21
NUR INSAFI 12 4 2 6 21 34 14
MAYBANK 11 2 3 6 12 18 9
ATM 12 2 0 10 12 37 6
UITM 12 2 0 10 18 43 6

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 8 7 1 0 21 4 22
BPSS 7 5 0 2 15 11 15
BJSS 7 4 0 3 15 8 12
IPOH CH 9 3 2 4 15 19 11
MALACCA CC 8 3 0 5 10 10 9
USM 8 2 0 6 11 25 6
UNITEN 7 1 1 5 6 16 4

Azlan Shah Cup: Teams ready, stadium not

WORLD No 1 Australia will lead six top-10 teams in the 20th Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Ipoh on may 5-15.
Malaysia, who have yet to win the tournament after 19 editions, are the lowest ranked at No 15, going by the International Hockey Federation World Rankings which were last updated on Aug 9 last year.
And interestingly though, Great Britain have been listed instead of England, whose world ranking is No 4.
South Korea (No 6), New Zealand (No 7) Asian Games champions Pakistan (No 8) and India (No 9) will complete the power-packed cast who will hold court at the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh.
But sadly, while the most exciting teams in the world have confirmed, the stadium itself is not in the best of shape, and will need to be closed for at least one month to spruce it up.
Malaysia Hockey League Premier Division teams found out about the sorry state of the stadium when they played there, as both the artificial pitches were infested with fungus and players could not trap the ball well.
Many fell while trying to chase the ball on the slippery surface, as there was also plenty of mud.
An official, who declined to be named said: “The score board is also in tatters, while work to clean the artificial pitch is in progress, but very slow, as it is a tedious job.
“Also, the drainage system is in bad shape, as when it rains, the water stagnates for long periods on the pitch, while the changing rooms, which are lower than the pitch, get flooded easily.”
He predicted loads of money as well as a concerted effort for one month is needed to make both the pitches playable again.
Last year, it rained cats-and-dogs during the tournament, with even the final being abandoned after six minutes of play because of torrential rain.
India and South Korea were declared joint-champions as the pitch was water-logged and unplayable.
Malaysia ended fourth behind Australia, and it would be a shame if the stadium is unable to hold a candle against the best in the world.
FIXTURES: May 5 -- 1605 New Zealand v Pakistan, 1805 Korea v India, 2005 Great Britain v Malaysia.
May 6: 1605 Korea v Pakistan, 805 Great Britain v India, 2005 Australia v Malaysia.
May 8: 1605 Australia v India, 1805 Great Britain v Pakistan, 2005 Korea v New Zealand.
May 9: 1605 Australia v Pakistan, 1805 Great Britain v New Zealand, 2005 India v Malaysia.
May 11: 1605 New Zealand v Malaysia, 1805 Australia v Korea, 2005 Pakistan v India.
May 12: 1605 Australia v Great Britain, 1805 New Zealand v India, 2005 Korea v Malaysia
May 14: 1605 Great Britain v Korea, 1805 Pakistan v Malaysia, 2005 Australia v New Zealand
May 15: 1535 Fifth-Sixth, 805 Third-Fourth, 2035 Final.