skip to main |
skip to sidebar
By Singapore Hockey Federation PAKISTAN are the champions of the 2nd Boys U16 Asia Cup 2013 after emerging triumphant in the final with a 5-3 victory over Bangladesh in front a capacity crowd of close to 1,000 supporters.
In the end, the title came down to the two strongest teams throughout the four-day event and the final showed that the two were on par with one another.
The event was the official debut of the new Hockey 5 format and overall, it was a success with offense and speed ruling the action on the field.
In the first period, Pakistan’s quality clearly shone through as they scored two goals in just seven minutes.
However, Pakistan’s lead was cancelled out just minutes into the second period. Bangladesh earned a penalty and Pakistan were dealt a big blow when two of their players were given yellow cards. The bookings forced Pakistan to play with just three players for two minutes of play. Bangladesh converted their penalty and made use of their two-man advantage to level the score at 2-2.
After serving the stipulated two minutes, Pakistan welcomed back the full squad of five and put in a disciplined performance to see them through to a 5-3 win.
In other matches, Malaysia claimed bronze after beating Japan 2-1 in the 3rd and 4th Placing Match.
In the 5th and 6th Placing Match, it took a penalty shootout for Chinese-Taipei to clinch 5th spot. They beat Korea 1-0 on shootout after the match had ended 5-5.
Individual honours were also given out to three outstanding players.
Muhammad Atiq of Pakistan was named the Top Goalscorer with 20 goals to his name.
Mhommad Ashraful Islam of Bangladesh won the Player of the Tournament trophy while Malaysia’s Ammad Fahmi Azhar Ruddin earned the Goalkeeper of the Tournament award.
TERENGGNANU team manager Saberi Salleh said they will stick with the present coaching set-up for the second leg of the Malaysia Hockey Legue, as he feels his team has achieved their target even though the results are not very encouraging.
The debutantes had secured six national players to strengthen their campaign, while the rest were mostly their Malaysia Games players.
“If you study at the standings, Terengganu look like a flop in their first Premier Division season. But in reality, the six national players which we hired, have been very instrumental in helping our Malaysia Games players improve their game.
“The management can see this change in the young boys, and so, we have no plans to hire a consultant or change the coaching set-up for the second round,” said Saberi.
Terengganu had paid big bucks to secure Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Fitri Saari, Azlan Misron, Shahrun Nabil, Ismail Abu and Ameerullah Aziz but have been a flop as they have only one win and a draw to show in mid-season.
“Every team has an objective, and ours was to help the youth in our team to became more confident, matured players by playing alongside established names.
“The state government has pledged to continue supporting our team to play in the MHL, so we are not in for a short term, but looking to nurture our state-born players into better players and I am sure the results will follow suit,” said Saberi.
Their only win was against Nur Insafi (5-1) while the draw was against Tenaga Nasional (4-4).
They will open their second round campaign against UniKL, who beat them on Sunday 3-1.
On the other end of the scale, defending champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) are clear by four points from the chasing pack of Sapura and Tenaga who have 12 points in mid-season.
KLHC play Sapura again on Friday, and a win would almost hand the League title to them early in the second round.
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 6 5 1 0 27 8 16
TNB 6 3 3 0 23 12 12
Maybank 6 4 0 2 21 17 12
Sapura 6 2 2 2 15 14 8
UniKL 6 2 0 4 9 18 6
Tgganu 6 1 1 4 13 19 4
N Insafi 6 0 1 5 6 26 1
Pic: KLHC's Harvinder Singh making an attempt against Sapura in Kuantan.
DEFENDING champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) were made to sweat before edging Sapura 3-2 in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League at the Kuantan Stadium yesterday.
KLHC completed the first round with only one blemish, a 3-3 draw against Tenaga Nasional, and look good to break free in the second round starting this Friday.
KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj said it was an important win, as they will start the second round against Sapura again.
“We let in a goal and had to chase back for the win which resulted in unnecessary pressure in the last 10 minutes of the match. However, I am happy that we did not drop points in this match, as we will be playing against Sapura again on Friday in the second leg.
“It was an important win, as I did not want to give Sapura an edge going into Friday,” said Dharmaraj.
KLHC were given a scare in the sixth minute when Azrul Hasbullah connected a reverse stick cross to hand Sapura the lead, but Pakistan import Muhammad Imran put them level off a 35th minute penalty corner.
And two quick goals by Imran in the 48th minute and Chua Boon Huat in the 54th minute gave KLHC some breathing space.
Sapura’s Khasif Ali converted a penalty corner in the 60th minute to reduce the margin, but could not capitalise on two penalty more penalty corners they won in the 64th and 65th minutes.
As for UniKL, they finally won their second match in mid-season when Noor Faeez Ibrahim delivered a hat-trick in the 18th, 22nd and 67th minutes. The Terengganu goal was scored by Jivan Mohan in the 40th minute.
“It was a fantastic performance and I am really proud of my players. They never gave our opponents much space, and we hope to build on this in the second round,” said UniKL coach Arul Selvaraj.
RESULTS: Premier Division -- Sapura 2 KLHC 3, Terengganu 1 UniKL 3, Tenaga x Maybank x.
Note: Matches at Pitch I and II of the Kuantan Hockey Stadium.
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 6 5 1 0 27 8 16
Maybank 5 4 0 1 20 12 12
TNB 5 2 3 0 18 11 9
Sapura 6 2 2 2 15 14 8
UniKL 6 2 0 4 9 18 6
Tgganu 6 1 1 4 13 19 4
N Insafi 6 0 1 5 6 26 1
KARACHI: Pakistan continued their superb run
in the new five-a-side U16 Asia Cup as they marched into the final
where they will face Bangladesh for the title in Singapore on Sunday.
The tournament favourites defeated Malaysia 6-0 in their
semi-final yesterday as Mohammad Atiq, who has enjoyed a goal spree,
netted a brace in the rout. Sikandar Mustufa, Nohaiz Zahid Malik, Shan
Irshad and Junaid Manzoor scored one goal apiece.
Before their
last-four tie, Sri Lanka had received a mauling at the hands of
Pakistan, who went rampant in a 12-3 victory in their last group game.
Earlier,
coach Tahir Zaman had been uncertain about the team’s performance in
the event even though he stressed that they had trained hard. However,
all nerves were settled down when Pakistan got off to a flying start,
smashing 16 goals against a hapless Chinese Taipei outfit in their
tournament opener to register a 16-1 win.
In another match, Pakistan saw off the challenge from Japan to register a 7-4 win.
As
many as 10 teams featured in the competition, with Pakistan being
placed with Japan, China, Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei in Pool A, while
the other group featured Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh and
Kazakhstan.
The Express Tribune
TENAGA Nasional geared up for their crucial match against Maybank today with a 5-0 demolition of Nur Insafi at the Kuantan Stadium.
In the only Premier Division match of the day, the score could have been into the double digits if not for some super saves from Nur Insafi goalkeeper Nasir Ahmad.
However, Tenaga did enough to secure the three points, which elevated them to the third spot on the standings, and prime themselves for an attempt to tame the Tigers and move to second.
Tenaga scored their first in the 10th minute when Amir Farid Fuzi broke free in the centre and slipped the ball past Nur Insafi custodian Nasir Ahmad.
Faisal Saari then perfected his drag flick in the 18th minute penalty corner as he sent in a sizzler crashing into the back of the goal-mouth.
Former international Amin Rahim then scored the third in the 20th minute, also off a penalty corner attempt, to take a 3-0 lead into the breather.
With their crucial match against Maybank today at the back of their mind, Tenaga slowed the pace after the breather but still Sallehin Ghani (58th) and Aminuddin Zain (66th) completed the goal-count.
Meanwhile, the battle continues at the blue pitch in Kuantan today, with a high-stakes roll in the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) and Sapura encounter.
Double champions KLHC can’t afford to drop any points in their last Round One match if they want to keep their grip in the Premier Division.
While Sapura, whose only blemish is a 3-5 defeat in the hands of Maybank, have started to look dangerous as their foreign signings finally find their form.
“It will not be an easy match, but I am confident my players would not disappoint as we aim to end Round One with three points.
“This is vital, as the nearest rival (Maybank) is just a point adrift, and we can’t allow any silp-ups at this crucial stage to defend our League title,” said KLHC team manager George Koshy.
Maybank will also be involved in a cruncher, as they play a wounded Tenaga Nasional who have been playing below par even though they have a sterling cast to depend on.
RESULT: Premier Division -- Nur Insafi 0 TNB 5.
SUNDAY: Premier Division -- Sapura v KLHC (6pm), Terengganu v UniKL (6pm), Tenaga v Maybank (8pm).
Note: Matches at Pitch I and II of the Kuantan Hockey Stadium.
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 5 4 1 0 24 6 13
Maybank 5 4 0 1 20 12 12
TNB 5 2 3 0 18 11 9
Sapura 5 2 2 1 13 11 8
Tgganu 5 1 1 3 12 16 4
UniKL 5 1 0 4 6 17 3
N Insafi 6 0 1 5 6 26 1
