UniKL the team to beat for title

UNIKL, with 13 budding juniors on their team, are ex pected to continue their romp in Division One of the MHF- Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League when they square off against Petaling Jaya City Council (PJCC) today.
The fact that UniKL hammered Anderson 6-1 on Friday is set so send shivers down the spines of PJCC players, as they lost 2-0 to Anderson.
“Even though we hammered a team which had beaten PJCC, the fact still remains that we will have to play consistent hockey for 70 minutes and only then rate our opponent today,” said UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran.
UniKL share nine points with Anderson on the Division One standings, but they have only played three matches while Anderson four.
And if UniKL continue their winning streak today, they only have Bukit Jalil Sports School and Bandar Penawar Sports School-Thunderbolt to beat before they can unofficially claim the Division One title in their maiden JHL outing.
TODAY: Division One — Bukit Jalil v Anderson (KLHA Stadium, 3pm), Thunderbolt v Kelantan (Bandar Penawar, 5pm), UniKL v Petaling Jaya CC (KLHA Stadium, 5pm).
Division Two: Datuk Taha v Johor (Tampin, 5pm), Pahang v Matri (Kuatan, 5pm).



DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pt
UNIKL 3 3 0 0 16 3 9
ANDERSON 4 3 0 1 10 9 9
BP T’BOLT 2 2 0 0 9 2 6
BJSS 2 2 0 0 4 0 6
BPSS JUNIORS 2 1 0 1 4 6 3
MWHA 3 0 0 3 4 9 0
BJSS JUNIORS 3 0 0 3 1 8 0
PJCC 2 0 0 2 1 6 0
KELANTAN 1 0 0 1 1 7 0


DIVISION TWO


P W D L F A Pt
TBSS 3 2 1 0 12 3 7
IPOH CC 3 2 1 0 7 2 7
SABAH 2 2 0 0 16 0 6
PG FREES 2 0 2 0 4 4 2
MATRI 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
DATUK TAHA 2 0 0 2 0 9 0
K. SELANGOR 2 0 0 2 0 16 0
JOHOR 1 0 0 1 1 4 0
PAHANG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Newcomers UniKL rout Anderson

JUNIOR Hockey League newcomers UniKL hammered Anderson of Ipoh 6-1 to stamp their mark in Division One at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium yesterday.
UniKL took a 2-0 lead by the sixth minute, and it looked like the Ipoh school were heading for a double digit defeat, but poor shooting kept the score at six.
Anderson, unbeaten in three matches before yesterday, were shocked in the third minute when Aminuddin Abu slotted in after three Anderson defenders failed to stop a bouncing pass.
And in the sixth minute, Manraj Singh punished Anderson again with a field attempt.
The former champions woke up from their slumber to score a penalty corner goal off Firdaus Sidek in the seventh minute, but went back to sleep after that.
UniKL had a field day with goals from Sabri Mohamed (13th, 40th), Aminuddin Abu (43rd) and Syamin Yusof (66th).
“I did expect a win, but not such a big margin as Anderson are a regular in the JHL. However, I am not happy with the poor shooting from my forwards, as we could have won with a bigger margin,” said UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran.
UniKL have nine points from three matches, and their coach feels they still have three more hurdles to go before they can breathe easy.
“We still have tough matches against Bukit Jalil, Thunderbolt and Petaling Jaya before we can start dreaming about the title,” said Vickneswaran.
The newcomers will square off against Petaling Jaya City Council tomorrow, and going by form, it will be another thumping win for them.
RESULTS: Division One — Bukit Jalil Juniors 1 Kelantan 1, UniKL 6 Anderson 1; Division Two: Penang Free School 3 Tunku Besar Secondary School 3, Ipoh City Council 4 Johor 1.
TOMORROW: Division One — Bukit Jalil v Anderson (KLHA Stadium, 3pm), Thunderbolt v Kelantan (Bandar Penawar, 5pm), UniKl v Petaling Jaya CC (KLHA Stadium, 5pm).
Division Two: Datuk Taha v Johor (Tampin, 5pm), Pahang v Matri (Kuatan, 5pm).



DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pt
UNIKL 3 3 0 0 16 3 9
ANDERSON 4 3 0 1 10 9 9
BP T’BOLT 2 2 0 0 9 2 6
BJSS 2 2 0 0 4 0 6
BPSS JUNIORS 2 1 0 1 4 6 3
KELANTAN 2 0 1 1 2 8 1
BJSS JUNIORS 4 0 1 3 2 9 1
MWHA 3 0 0 3 4 9 0
PJCC 2 0 0 2 1 6 0



DIVISION TWO


P W D L F A Pt
TBSS 3 2 1 0 12 3 7
IPOH CC 3 2 1 0 7 2 7
SABAH 2 2 0 0 16 0 6
PG FREES 2 0 2 0 4 4 2
MATRI 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
DATUK TAHA 2 0 0 2 0 9 0
K. SELANGOR 2 0 0 2 0 16 0
JOHOR 1 0 0 1 1 4 0
PAHANG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Pretty women on a tough mission

The Malaysian Women's Hockey Association (MWHA) named 18 players for the Qualifiers. The team will leave for Chile on April 18.

The squad -- Goalkeepers: Siti Noor Zainordin, Farah Ayuni Yahya; defenders: Catherine Anak Lambor, Raja Norsharina Shabuddin, Siti Shahidah Saad, Norfaraha Hashim, Sebah Kari; midfielders: Nadia Abdul Rahman (capt), Juliani Mohd Din, Nuraini Abdul Rashid, Noor Hasliza Ali, Siti Nor Amarina Ruhani; forwards: Norbaini Hashim, Rabiatul Adawiyah Mohd, Fazilla Sylvester Silin, Nor Hidayah Ahmad Bokhari, Nor Azlin Sumantri, Siti Rahman Othman.
FIXTURES -- April 24: Chile v Malaysia; April 25: Scotland v Malaysia; April 27: Malaysia v Ireland; May 1: Australia v Malaysia.

More dirt on Pakistan

PIC: Pakistan v Australia in the 2010 New Delhi World Cup.

Pakistan lost WCQ match to Poland deliberately as part of planning to avoid France in Final, Asif Bajwa makes shocking revelation to VOA.

By Sardar Khan

As if Pakistan’s worst ever 12th position in the recently concluded hockey world cup in New Delhi was not enough that led the former Olympians to call for Asif Bajwa’s head, the sacked manager of Pakistan team and reigning secretary of Pakistan hockey federation (PHF) Asif Bajwa, in an exclusive interview to Voice of America (VOA) has made the shocking disclosure that Pakistan lost its league match to Poland purposely in world cup qualifying tournament (WQC) held in Lille as part of strategy to avoid hosts France in the final.
It may be remembered that PHF President Qasim Zia had sacked the team management comprising of manager Asif Bajwa and chief coach Shahid Ali Khan as well as the whole selection committee after Pakistan’s humiliating display in 2010 world cup.
When asked that how come star studded Pakistan team lost its league match to minnows like Poland on 7th, Nov 2009 in WCQ tournament in France, Bajwa made this shocking revelation that “ I don’t want to justify that defeat but I want to tell you that it was part of the strategy. Had Pakistan beaten Poland, Pakistan could face host France in the final that Pakistan wanted to avoid as in that case, France could win and would have qualified for the final rounds of the world cup”.
“It was part of our planning, we fielded our second string in the match in order to ensure that we faced Japan in the WCQ tournament final instead of France, Bajwa said”.
When asked that deliberately losing a match is not only against the spirit of fair play but it also comes under the parameters of Match fixing, Bajwa said, “ I don’t call it match fixing but a strategy and planning. We rested our key players in order to be better equipped in the final against Japan”.
When VOA pressed that even despite resting senior players Pakistan was not a team to be beaten by Poland, Bajwa replied, “ I am not justifying the defeat and I admit that Pakistan should not have lost but what I am saying is that our planning worked well and we qualified for 2010 world cup”.
It is worth pointing out that after finishing 12th in 2010 world cup, allegations were echoed by many including former Olympian and coach Shahnaz Shaikh suggesting that he smelled rat of match fixing or under performance that led to disasters humiliation.
Now this bombshell from sitting PHF secretary Asif Bajwa suggests that a high level investigation should be carried out to find out the hidden reasons of debacle.
Muhammad Shafiq, one of the sacked selector in the aftermath of world cup, told VOA that it was not a team that could finish at 12th position so an inquiry be set up and responsible should be brought to book.
Voice of America exclusive interview

Anerson on a good run

By Ajitpal Singh

ANDERSON chalked up their third straight win in Division One of the MHF-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League when they overwhelmed Bukit Jalil Juniors 4-1 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh yesterday.
Anderson led 3-0 at half-time through Azril Misron (eighth minute), Mohd Firdaus Sidek (26th) and Jasdev Singh (34th) before Mohd Soffian Kamaruddin added their fourth in the 53rd minute.
Thung Wei Chia replied for the visitors in the 38th minute.
Anderson now lead Division One with nine points from three matches.
In another match, the national women's hockey team (MWHA) suffered their third defeat when they went down 3-1 to Bandar Penawar Juniors in Seremban.
Muhd Shahril Saabah scored in the 42nd and 61st minutes after Muhd Sufi Ismat Rohulamin had levelled proceedings for Bandar Penawar Juniors in the 36th minute.
MWHA took the lead through Nuraini Abdul Rashid's penalty corner set-piece in the 29th minute.
RESULTS -- Division One: MWHA 1 Bandar Penawar Juniors 3, Anderson 4 Bukit Jalil Juniors 1.
TOMORROW -- Division One: Bukit Jalil Juniors v Kelantan (Tun Razak, 7pm), UniKL v Anderson (KLHA Stadium, 5pm).
Division Two: Penang Free School v Tunku Besar Secondary School (Universiti Sains Malaysia, 5pm), Ipoh City Council v Johor (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm).