Winning combination, not win

NATIONAL hockey coach Tai Beng Hai is looking for a winning combination, rather than a win in the five test series against World No 2 Australia.
Malaysia lost the first test 3-1, the second 5-1 and held the Aussies 3-3 in the third test in Kuantan on Thursday.
Today, the Australians will be looking to seal the series with their third win at the Tun Razak Stadium, while Beng Hai will continue experimenting leading to the World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand on Nov 7-15.
The shifting of players' positions and trying out younger aspirants are necessary, as Beng Hai shuts the door on the experienced players that he dropped from the training squad.
"I am happy with what I have and will not recall players who have withdrawn and those who have been dropped from the training squad for the qualifier.
"We must look forward as there is not much time leading to our most important target which is the qualifier," said Beng Hai.
The coach's stand has firmly closed any avenue for appeal from Ismail Abu, who withdrew from training after he was caught playing truant from weights training.
"I will place my trust on those who have been training diligently for the qualifier, otherwise I will be sending the wrong signal, by condoning indiscipline," said Beng Hai.
Australia are in the midst of preparing for the Champions Trophy in Melbourne on Nov 28-Dec 6. However, they are in Malaysia without nine first choice players, and out of the 22, 12 have less than 20 caps.
"I know that the fans are looking for a win but I can't afford to push my players to the limit so close to the qualifier.
"I am worried about players picking up injuries, and as I have said before, the five matches are a great avenue for me to test borderline cases, and if we secure a win in the process, it will be an added bonus," said Beng Hai.
FOURTH TEST 24/10/09: Malaysia v Australia (5.30pm, Tun Razak Stadium).
FIFTH TEST 25/10/09: Malaysia v Australia (5.30pm, Tun Razak Stadium).

Pakistan confident of Lille gold

PIC: Pakistan players at the 15th Doha Asian Games in 2006.

The Squad selected for Lille is: Zeeshan Ashraf (captain), Salman Akbar, Nasir Ahmed, Sohail Abbas, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan, Waseem Ahmed, Sajjad Anwar, Fareed Ahmed, Mohammad Rashid, Rehan Butt, Shakil Abbasi,Haseem Khan, Abbas Haider, Akhtar Ali, Waqas Sharif, Shafqat Rasool, Mohammad Zubair.

ISLAMABAD: National Hockey team coach Shahid Ali Khan as well as two other former stars Wednesday sounded confident of record four-times winners Pakistan’s chances in the upcoming World Cup qualifying tournament in France, though all three of them cautioned the national team against repeating past mistakes.
The three of them—Shahid, Shehnaz Shaikh and Hassan Sardar- -said the team would need to produce its best form to win the qualifying tournament and thus seal a place for the final round of the World Cup to be played at New Delhi, India in February-March next year.
Only the winner of the October 31-November eight qualifying tournament at Lille , France will win a ticket for the final round for which nine teams have already qualified.
International Hockey Federation is holding qualifying tournaments in France and also in New Zealand and Argentina with winner of each competition to advance to the final round in New Delhi.
Coach Shahid Ali Khan said that a sound strategy has been devised for the upcoming qualifying round, adding the team will adopt an aggressive style.
Talking to media, he said, ‘I see no reason for our team not to win the tournament, but there is no room for mistakes.’
Shahid Ali Khan said, ‘our performance in matches will show how much we have succeeded in checking our mistakes,’ adding that focus is also being laid on strong defense and variation in penalty corner drills during the training session.
Meanwhile, former Olympian and coach Shehnaz Sheikh expressed his optimism about the performance of team in the qualifying round.
He told APP that competition is pretty tough in qualifying round as each team will want to join top 12 teams for the World Cup.
Shehnaz Sheikh said that both physical and mental strength will be necessary as the team will play in freezing temperature of around 4°C.
‘Historically we haven’t performed well in colder climates so it will be a real test of endurance.’
‘The Pakistani players attack in ‘diagonal’ fashion—a style which not only yields goal scoring opportunities for opponent teams, tends to exhaust the players faster.’
Chief Selector Pakistan Hockey team, Hassan Sardar said his team has capability to easily win qualifying round and thus book a berth for the World Cup.
‘It is a talented team with a combination of senior and young players, and has the potential to overcome any team,’ said the leading goal-scorer of his time.
He said, teams like France, Russia and Poland play in conventional European style which, ‘can create problems, but Pakistani team can beat them.’
It may be recalled that Pakistan failed to seal an automatic place for in the final round of the World Cup after it lost to South Korea in the final of Asia Cup earlier this year.
Pakistan have won record four World Cup titles—1971 in Spain, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1978), Mumbai (1982) and Sydney (1994).

Dawn

Malaysia hold Australia 3-3

By T.N. Alagesh

AFTER conceding three goals in the first half, Malaysia staged a late comeback to hold Australia 3-3 in their third Test at the Indera Mahkota Hockey Stadium in Kuantan yesterday.

The heavy downpour during the match did not dampen the players' spirits as Malaysia pushed forward in the final minutes and Jivan Mohan scored off a goalmouth melee in the 68th minute to draw level.
The national team, who lost the previous two matches, looked to be heading for a third defeat when Australia captain Liam De Young gave the Champions Trophy bound side the lead in the 13th minute when he scored from close range.
Two minutes later, C. Ciriello scored off a penalty corner setpiece with a rising flick and Fergus Ravanagh, who collected a long pass from the centre of the field in the 31st minute, scored past Mohd Abdul Hakim, who was making his debut in the Malaysian goal.

Malaysia’s Mohamad Sukri Abd Mutalib (left) tries to stop Australia’s C. Ciriello in their third test at the Indera Mahkota Hockey Stadium in Kuantan yesterday. The match ended 3-3. Pic: HALIM MAT ALI.

The national team hardly had a decent opportunity to score in the first half, and Malaysian Hockey Federation president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah must have been unimpressed.
When the match resumed, Malaysia launched several raids and their efforts paid off in the 38th minute through Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin.
The hardworking Mohd Razie Abd Rahim then scored from close range in the 53rd minute.
Jivan then completed the comeback with his effort two minutes from time. National coach Tai Beng Hai said the players had executed their tactics accordingly and managed to play their normal game after failing to do so in the previous two matches.
He said the draw was a good sign that the team were on track and the test matches are the platform for the players to prove their worth on the pitch.
"The players have another two matches to impress me and I hope the rotation system deployed for the matches gives all players, especially the young ones, an opportunity to play.
"The players were too eager to attack in the first half, and this gave the Australians the opportunity to hit three goals but they followed my instructions well in the second half," he said.

Two minutes on the bench for Green Card

(FIH release) The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has approved a variation to the rules in relation to the penalty for a green card in the forthcoming ABN AMRO Champions Trophy 2009 in Melbourne, Australia and the three Men’s World Cup Qualifiers 2009.
The following variation to the Rules will form part of Appendix 6 of the Tournament Regulations for these tournaments only:
WorldHockey World Cup Qualifier men, Lille (France) – 31 October/08 November 2009
BDO World Cup Qualifier men, Invercargill (New Zealand) – 07-15 November 2009
BDO World Cup Qualifier men, Quilmes (Argentina) – 14-22 November 2009
ABN AMRO Champions Trophy men, Melbourne (Australia) – 28 November/06 December 2009
Green Card – Two Minute Suspension
For any offence, the offending player may be warned (indicated by a green card).
Where a green card is issued the offending player is temporarily suspended for two (2) minutes.
Temporarily suspended players must remain in a designated place until permitted by the technical officer on duty to resume play.
During the period of temporary suspension of a player, the team plays with one less player.
The umpire immediately restarts the game after the issue of the green card.
The offending player must leave the field immediately. If the player interferes with play on the way to the designated place the umpire further penalises the player under the normal conduct of play provisions.
The two minute temporary suspension commences when the player is seated at the designated area.
The timing of the suspension is controlled by the technical officials on duty at the technical table.
This variation to the Rules of Hockey was approved by the FIH Office Bearers to be used at the men’s World Cup Qualifiers 2009 and the men’s ABN AMRO Champions Trophy 2009 following a proposal from a working party comprising the Chairs and Secretaries of the Hockey Rules Board, Competitions Committee, Umpiring Committee and the Chair of the Athletes Panel. In addition, the Competitions Committee at its recent meeting in Lausanne endorsed the trial of this rule variation.

Tough for Dharma's boys

FIXTURES: Nov 11: Malaysia v Sri Lanka; Nov 12: Malaysia v Taiwan; Nov 14: Malaysia v Myanmar; Nov 16: Malaysia v India; Nov 18: Malaysia v Pakistan.

MALAYSIA have been grouped with India and Pakistan in the Second Boys Under-18 Asia Cup, in Yangon, Myanmar on Nov 11-22.
The other teams in Malaysia’s group are Taiwan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. In Group B are Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh.
Malaysian coach K. Dharmaraj is perplexed with the groupings, which has made the task of reaching the semi-finals that much tougher.
“I am surprised that India and Pakistan are in the same group with us, and I believe the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) have asked FIH on what basis the groupings were done.
“It will be a tough tournament for us, as India and Pakistan are well known to be strong in age-group tournaments,” said Dharmaraj.
The gold medallists in Yangon will earn a ticket to play in the Youth Olympics in Singapore next year.
India hammered Uzbekistan 7-0 in the first edition, as they were powered by a team which won the Junior World Cup in Tasmania the same year.
“We should not have any problems playing the first three matches, and I believe if India and Pakistan register under-18 players, then we will have a fair chance
India are serious about eradicating overage players and have conducted wrist x-rays to determine the age of players who turned up at their selection camp.
Interestingly, in the first selection Indian Hockey Federation sent home 48 players out of the 53 picked up for the Asia Cup camp as they were found overage when put through digital bone x-ray tests.
Dharmaraj will also field Faizal Saari, even though the player will only be available for the last match against Pakistan after finishing his obligation with the senior side in the World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand from Nov 7-15.