MHL: Magnificent Seven barred...

MALAYSIAN Hockey Confederation (MHC) coaching committee chairman Datuk Ow Soon Kooi said Sunday none of the coaches dubbed as the 'Magnificent Seven' will be allowed to coach or play for teams in this years Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).

  The seven are National seniors coach Stephen van Huizen, his assistant Lim Chiow Chuan; women's chief coach K. Dharmaraj, his assistant Lailin Abu Hassan; National Development team head coach Wallace Tan, Women's Development squad head coach K. Gobinathan and 1Mas Director Tai Beng Hai.

  In reiterating this stand, Soon Kooi said that this condition was already made known to the coaches in January.

  "They know MHC's stand and I believe all will adhere to the decision," said Soon Kooi.

  "The seven have a role to play during the MHL as they will have to monitor the performances of their respective players as well as scout for talent.

  "I hope the coaches will understand the situation and I hope their clubs too realise that as full time coaches with MHC they have to adhere to the regulations."

  Teams that will be affected by this rule are KL Hockey Club (Dharmaraj and Chiow Chuan), Sapura (van Huizen and Beng Hai) as well as Uitm (Gobinathan).

  While these seven cannot coach or play, some others will be allowed to coach or play in the MHL.

  Amongst those who are still expected to play are Roslan Jamaluddin (KLHC) and Amin Rahim (TNB).

  Roslan is the goalkeeper coach for the National Development Squad while Amin is the assistant coach of the team.

  It will be interesting to see who will now handle high profile teams such as KLHC and Sapura, as this season, clubs not only have to scout for foreign players during the Olympic period, but also for calibre coaches to handle high profile clubs.

MHL: Competitions Committee needs 10 days...

PIC: National women's team in action in Kakamigahara, Japan.

THE Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) Competitions Committee still needs 10 more days to decide if the planned Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) would be held smack in the middle of the Olympics, or changed to a later date.
  In an earlier calender drawn up by the Competitions Committee, the MHL is slated to be held in August, but teams are crying fault, as they will not be able to secure foreign players form the top-twelve countries in the world who would be playing in Rio de Janeiro.
  The MHL teams would only be able to sign second stringers, and players from countries which did not qualify for the Olympics.
  "The Competitions Committee discussed about the MHL issue, and said they needed at least 10 days more to decide either to stick with August, or find an alternative date for it," said MHC CEO K. Logan Raj.
  The meeting also decided that Division Two teams also can hire foreign players, if they want.
  However, from the traditional MHL foreign list, only Pakistan, South Korea and Japan did not qualify for the Olympics and their players would be available for the MHL.
  Meanwhile, the Malaysian women's team lost their seventh friendly on the Japan Tour.
  It was the sixth match against the Japan Juniors, and the Malaysian senior women lost 2-0.
  But despite the losing spree, women's coach K. Dharmaraj said his charges played extremely well.
  "The team played a really good match, their best of the series thus far. We have 12 girls in this team who are Under 21 so the age difference with Japan isn't nearly as far as one would assume.
  "Last year, Malaysia were thrashed by the bigger teams at the Junior Women's Asia Cup. Now, a majority of the same players are competitive against the No 1 and No 2 junior teams in Asia.
 "There is visible progress, but we are still a good way off where we aspire to be", he explained.
  Coach Dharmaraj's players beat Japan Juniors A 3-2 in the morning and held Japan Juniors B 2-2 in the evening of May 3, but their next back-to-back matches turned out to be drubbings.
  They lost 2-0 to Japan Juniors A and Nanto Bank Japan 5-0 in matches played in Wednesday morning and evening.
  And on Thursday, they played two more back-to-back matches and lost 2-1 to Japan Juniors and 5-1 to Japan Juniors A. 
  Malaysia will play two more games before returning  home on May 10.

Pavandip and gang head for Mannheim Whitsun Cup

FORMER Olympian Nor Saiful Zaini named 18 under-16 players Friday for the Whitsun Cup in Mannheim, Germany, on May 13-16 as Malaysia embark on a journey towards the 2020 Junior World Cup.
  The boys were selected after the recent National Under-16 tournament, and underwent a four-day training in Ipoh during the Azlan Shah Cup.
  In Mannheim, they will play against Netherlands, German Under-16 and German Under-17.
  This is an invitational tournament where Malaysia were left out for the last two editions. However, Malaysia finished second behind Germany in the Whitsun Cup when it made its debut in 2010.
  "We selected a pool of 30 from the National Under-16 tournament and after four days in Ipoh, the 18 were selected for Mannheim. These are the cream of the crop, but they lack international experience and would get their first taste against two German teams and the Netherlands," said Saiful Zaini.
  Only three players have seen action overseas, when they played for 1Mas in the FHE Cup in Perth last year.
  Midfielders Pavandip Singh s/o Gurdip Singh and Akram Hakkam; and goalkeeper Hamiz Ahir helped 1Mas become champions in the tournament by beating Western Australia Heat 1-0 in the final.
  Malaysian Hockey Confederation CEO K. Logan Raj said: "The MHC reiterates its commitment towards development and the formulation of a strong team for the Junior World Cup 2020.
  "It is then imperative to understand that results, although significant, currently takes a back seat to the overall plan."
  No targets were set for the boys, as Saiful Zaini was more inclined towards blooding the boys.
  "This will be a first international tournament for 15 of my players so I will not focus on results. Of course we will aim to finish as high as possible, but going into the tournament with no knowledge of the two German teams as well as Netherlands, we will have to play by ear during each match," said Saiful Zaini.
 MALAYSIAN Under-16: Goalkeepers: Hamiz Ahir, Helmi Fazli; Defenders: Kamarulzaman Kamaruddin, Zulfitri Zin, Arif Syafie.
 Midfielders: Pavandip Singh s/o Gurdip Singh, Amirul Hamizan, Akram Hakkam, Granson Noel, Faiz Aiman, Zafri Afiq, Syarman Mat Tee.
 Forwards: Haridzmi Nizam, Noor Firdaus Rosdi, Muhibuddin Moharam, Syamin Naim, Saifuddin Azli, Akhimullah Anuar.
  Coach: Nur Saiful Zaini; Assistant Coach: Sufian Mohamed.

Our women blow hot and cold in Japan...

THE Malaysian women's hockey team started their Japan Tour on a good note, but could not sustain the pace after playing two matches per-day in Kakamigahara.
  Coach K. Dharmaraj's players beat Japan juniors A 3-2 in the morning and held Japan juniors B 2-2 in the evening of May 3, but their next back-to-back matches turned out to be drubbings.
  They lost 2-0 to Japan juniors A 2-0 and Nanto Bank Japan 5-0 in matches played in Wednesday morning and evening.
  And on Thursday, they played two more back-to-back matches and lost 2-1 to Japan Juniors and 5-1 to Japan Juniors A.
  The women will play three more matches before ending the Tour on May 10.
  Meanwhile, 14 teams will kick-start the inaugural 1MAS Boys' Under-13 tournament at the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh Friday.
  The two-day tournament will be played on a zonal system with Penang, Perlis, Kedah and Sabah drawn in North zone while Perak, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur in central zone.
  In East zone are Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan and Sarawak while South zone has Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Johor.
  The champion of each zone will advance to the final at a later date.
  Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) Director of Development, Tai Beng Hai, said the 1MAS programmes complements the age-group tournaments organised by the Ministry of Education (KPM) and Malaysian Schools Sports council (MSSM).
  “MHC is working in tandem with KPM and MSSM in our efforts to create a wider pool of junior players. These tournaments are good exposure for the younger players who will develop into better players as they progress to play in the National Under-14 and Under-16 tournaments in future,” said Beng Hai.
  MHC, said Beng Hai, looks into organising National Under-14 and Under-16 tournaments while the Under-11, Under-13 and Under-15 tournaments come under the purview of 1MAS.
  The 1MAS Girls Under-13 tournament will be held at a later date.

Negri HA Razak Cup Open trial..

NEGRI Sembilan will miss the services of national No 1 goalkeeper S. Kumar for the Razak Cup in Kuala Lumpur on May 21-29.
  Injury has forced him out of representing his home state.
  "Kumar is still undergoing rehabilitation after tearing his adductor muscle while playing in the last Test match against Australia in Perth last month.
  "He will not be ready for the Razak Cup, but we have our back-up plans to blood younger goalkeepers," said Negri Sembilan Razak Cup coach S. Chandran.
  Kumar, 37, who has been playing in the Razak Cup since 1997, played for his home state last season but Negri lost in the Fifth-Sixth classification 3-7 to Pahang.
  "Kumar is expected to undergo a check with the National Sports Institute on May 17, but it is too late to wait for him. We will also field many Malaysia Games players this season, and hopefully the young side will do much better than last year," said Chandran.
  Malacca were the surprise package last year when they wobbled into the final, but beat favourites and 2014 champions Perak 1-0 to lift the title.
  Negri Sembilan will be holding an Open trial on Saturday at the Seremban II Stadium from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.
   For more information, call Chandran at 016-3157113  or NSHA secetary P. Tamilselvam at 019-3650303.