BPSS exert revenge in Overall chase

BANDAR Penawar Sports School-TNB won the Junior Hockey League Overall title when they beat UniKL 3-2 in penalty strokes at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
The match ended 2-2, and even extra-time sudden death could not separate the teams, who went to penalty strokes to decide the outcome.
Shahril Saabah scored from the fifth flick to give BPSS the title and revenge over their league defeat.
The final started 75 minutes after its scheduled start due to heavy rain, but the cold and slippery conditions failed to dampen the spirits of players from both teams who played attacking hockey.
And it was UniKL who managed to settle down faster as they attacked BPSS-TNB from the middle and almost had reason to celebrate in the third minute itself, when Taufik Hamid deflected the ball into goal.
Although umpire Mohamed Suhaironizam signaled for goal, he changed his mind after consulting fellow umpire Nor Azhar.
UniKL was awarded their first penalty corner in the ninth minute and instead of a direct attempt by Zulhairi Hashim, the ball was relayed to Azri Hassan who made no mistake with his attempt to put UniKL 1-0 ahead.
BPSS-TNB hit back right away and were awarded a penalty corner in the 10th minute but UniKL keeper Shahrul Azaddin Auskarzie did well to save the attempt.
Howver, Fitri Saari put BPSS-TNB on level terms in the 21st minute as he dribbled several defenders on the right and sent in a reverse stick shot from the edge of the semi circle that caught Shahrul off guard in the UniKL goal.
But UniKL was undeterred with the setback as Zulhairi scored off their second penalty corner in the 28th minute to put his team 2-1, into the breather. It was his 18th goal of the tournament.
However, just as the match restarted, Shahrushdan Basri nets the equaliser for BPSS, and the goal was enough to take the match into extra-time sudden-death.
In the bronze playoff, Bukit Jalil Sports School Juniors beat Bandar Penawar Sports School Juniors 4-1.
It was the perfect execution from penalty corners that gave BJSS JUniors the third spot and RM7,000 while BPSS Juniors received RM5,000.
The BJSS Juniors goals were scored by Zizi Azwan Hassan (10th), Norshafiq Sumantri (42nd), Zulhaziq Hashim (55th) and Hafifi Elkan (61st).
M. Saravanan scored the BPSS Juniors consolation in the 15th minute.
RESULTS -- Final: Bandar Penawar Sports School 2 UniKL 2 (BPSS win 3-2 on penalty strokes); Third-Fourth: Bukit Jalil Sports School Juniors 4 Bandar Penawar Sports School Juniors 1.

Saved from being a side-show..

THE RAZAK Cup hocky tournament was saved from being just another side-show, when the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) agreed to release national players to play for their respective states in the Qualifying zones, which will begin on May 27.
MHF deputy president Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad said chief coach Tai Beng Hai has agreed to allow 25 national players to play in the qualifying zones of the Razak Cup.
“However, the national players will be only released on weekends to play for their respective states in the qualifying zones. But on week days they will train with the national team,” said Nur Azmi.
The national team, who finished last in the seven-nation Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, will start their second phase of training for the Olympic Qualifiers today.
Their next assignment is a Four-nation in Moscow on June 20-26 which involves Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine and South Africa.
For the Razak Cup, the East zone will only have Kelantan and Pahang in the qualifying rounds as Terengganu and Police withdrew.
“Even though there are only two teams in East zone but both Kelantan and Pahang will still feature in the qualifying round,” said Nur Azmi.
This year’s tournament enters a new era with introduction of five new qualifying zones where 17 teams will play in a qualifier which ends on July 3.
The top two teams from five zones will qualify for Division One while the bottom two will play in Division Two.
The final round of the tournament will be held at the Bukit Serendit Hockey Stadium in Malacca on July 20-30.
The teams in Northern zone are Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Armed Forces while Division One defending champions Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Selangor and National Under-16 team will feature in the Central zone.
Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor will compete in Southern zone while Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan and Brunei will lay in the West zone.

Over in 70 minutes...

TWENTY-SIX Project 2013 players will be involved in the Junior Hockey League (JHL) Overall title final at the Tun Razak Stadium in Kuala Lumpur today.
And who better to know their strengths and weaknesses, than Project 2013 coach K. Dharmaraj.
Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) have 11 while UniKL have 15 Project players in the JHL final today.
UniKL sealed the League title narrowly on a four-goal margin over BPSS after both sides ended tied on 25 points, and their earlier clash ended in a 1-1 draw.
“If one looks back to the Myanmar Asia Cup Under-18 tournament (where Malaysia ended second behind Pakistan in 2009), UniKL only have two while BPSS have eight players from the silver medal winning side.
“However, out of the 15 Project players in UniKL, none of them were first choice material in the Under-18 tournament, while out of the 11 in BPSS, eight were core players in Myanmar,” reminded Dharmaraj.
But the 15 in UniKL have shown great determination, and marked improvement in the JHL.
“The strong point for UniKL is that all their players are of the same standard, and that makes their bench strong for substitution without breaking the match rhythm.
“As for BPSS, their eight Project players are of higher standard than the rest, and this could pose a problem when the coach decides to rest some of them. The bench is BPSS’ biggest weakness,” said Dharmaraj.
The coach, who will select the best to play in the World Cup Qualifier to be held in Malacca next May, predicts that penalty corners could well seal the match inside of 70 minutes.
“UniKL defender Zulhairi Hashim has really bloomed in the JHL and is the leading scorer with 17 penalty corner goals in 10 matches. He is a hitter, not a flicker when training with the Project side.
“On the other side, BPSS’ Shahril Saabah (14 goals) and Firhan Ashaari (10 goals, and played in the Azlan Shah Cup) could well turn the tide for the sports school.
“I predict a close final, and the winner would be decided in 70 minutes of play,” said Dharmaraj.
As for Zulhairi: “I have scored in all matches except against BPSS-Thunderbolt in the league. The team were banking on me to score then, but I failed to do so.
“The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Fortunately, we had the better goal difference than them to lift the Division One title for the first time.”
Zulhairi, who scored only three goals for UniKL last year, said that he was putting extra effort in training on his execution of the penalty corner drag flicks and hoped to get it right in the final.
“This is my last outing in the junior league and I want it to be a memorable one. I want to score in the final to help UniKL win the double for the first time,” he said.

Too close to call..

BANDAR Penawar Sports School (BPSS) and UniKL will square off in a classic Junior Hockey League (JHL) final, which will be too close to call, at the Tun Razak Stadium tomorrow.
BPSS and UniKL drew 1-1 in the League match, and the university side went on to lift the League title only on a four- goal average.
For the record, UniKL won the Overall title and finished second in the League last year behind BPSS, and this season won the League title and are chasing a double in only their second JHL season.
“We have two strong reasons to wrest the Overall title from UniKL because they dethroned us as League champions, and now we would like to return the favour in the Overall final.
“The second reason is that the final will be the last time we will be playing under the BPSS banner, as next year the school’s name will be changed to Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School,” said BPSS coach Wan Roslan.
As for UniKL, they want to claim a double, and also prove to the hockey fraternity that their players have been groomed for the senior league.
“Of course we will be playing for the double on Saturday as it will be a feather in our cap as we are only two seasons-old in the JHL.
“However, the our bigger aim is to show that fielding players in the JHL has made them matured enough to play and make an impact in the Malaysia Hockey League next season, as that is the bigger picture that we have been planning for,” said UniKL manager Amir Azhar.
UniKL have fifteen Project 2013 players, while BPSS have 11 Project players -- making it really difficult for the coaches to plan for a surprise.
“Both the teams are basically made up of Project 2013 players and they know each others strengths and weak nesses.
“That is why I believe the team which comes up with a jolt, a surprise set-piece in the penalty corners, could land the title,” said UniKL coach S. Velappan.
UniKL have yet to be beaten since they started playing in the JHL, and they want to keep the proud record.
“We have some draws, but we never lost a match since making our debut in the JHL. And we would play to keep that record and hopefully achieve the double in style,” said Amir.
BPSS have scored a total of 59 goals, with 44 coming from field, 13 from penalty corners and two from penalty strokes. Their top scorer is Shahril Saabah who six field and eight penalty corner goals.
As for UniKL, they also scored a total of 59 goals with 30 coming from field, 27 from penalty corners and two from penalty strokes.
The university side’s top scorer is Zulhairi Hashim who tucke in a massive 17 penalty corners into the net.
SATURDAY -- Third-Fourth: Bandar Penawar Sports School Juniors v Bukit Jalil Sports School Juniors (Tun Razak Stadium, 6pm).
Final: Bandar Penawar Sports School v UniKL (Tun Razak Stadium, 8pm).

Achtung! in semis..

DEFENDING champions UniKL and Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS)-Thunderbolts are expected to treat their in-form opponents with respect and caution in the Junior Hockey League semi-finals today.
UniKL, led by 12 players from the Project 2013 squad, face Bukit Jalil Sports School Juniors (BJSS Jnrs) while BPSS Thunderbolts play BPSS Jnrs, both at the Tun Razak Stadium.
UniKL team manager Amir Azhar Ibrahim warned his players not to be complacent.
"Our key players failed to perform in our 9-0 quarter-final victory over MSSP-USM (Friday). The two-week lay-off after the last league game affected our play as our core players were with the Project 2013 squad," said Amir Azhar yesterday.
"We, however, have a good idea of our opponents' strengths and weaknesses, having beaten them 6-0 in the league stage."
Amir Azhar also hopes his side will kill-off their opponents with early goals.
"We must also score early to open up the game. We have to play quick and score goals as soon as possible," he added.
BJSS Jnrs, marshaled by six players from the national Under-16 squad, are out to uphold their school's proud track record in the tournament.
"We will neither hold back nor play cautiously. I want my players to maintain their discipline and focus on a good result," said BJSS Jnrs coach Lokman Yahaya.
He said his players must play without fear against UniKL.
"We need to play in such a way that will limit our opponents from scoring many goals. It will be tough but my players are also in a confident mood," added Lokman.
The other semi-final between BPSS-Thunderbolts and BPSS is also expected to be a fiery affair.
BPSS Jnrs coach Mohd Fakhrulnizam Baharuddin said his team will go all out to scalp the senior team.
"We must not show them too much respect. If we can upset BJSS then doing it again against our senior team is not impossible," he said.
Semi-finals -- Today: UniKl v BJSS Jnrs (4pm), BPSS Jnrs v BPSS-Thunderbolts (6pm) -- matches at Tun Razak Stadium -- AJITPAL SINGH