Sapura in semi-finals

SAPURA became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of Division Two, when they outclassed Politeknik PKT 4-0 in Group A of the Milo-Junior Hockey League at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium yesterday.
The finalists from Division Two will play in the quarter-finals of the Overall title, and the early indications are that Sapura will also qualify for a shot at the Overall title.
Yesterday, Sapura took and early lead when Soffian Kamaruddin scored in the fifth minute, while Ahmaed Iqwan Shah increased the lead in the 26th minute, before Soffian scored theit third in the 28th minute.
After the breather, P. Ahrujunan scored a penalty corner goal in the 59th minute for a 4-0 win.
"The early goals gave us a good boost to control the match against the second placed team in our group. And now we are looking forward to play in the semi-finals of Division Two.
"In the remaining matches, I will plan to keep the winning momentum and also prepare for the knock-out stage so that we can also play in the quarter-finals of the Overall title," said Sapura coach I. Vickneswaran.
In Division One, Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) scraped past USM-MSSP 4-3 while MBI Anderson beat Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MBPJ) 5-2 to move up from third to second on the standings.
MBI-Anderson took the lead in the third minute through Haneffi Razali and they were 2-0 up in the 21st minute when Amirul Iman Razali scored.
But MBPJ reduced the deficit on the stroke of halftime when T. Ganeisha converted a penalty corner.
It turned out to be a minor setback for the Ipoh side as they went on to score three more goals off Najib Abu Hassan (40th, 52nd) and Azril Misron (49th) for a 5-1 lead before MBPJ got their consolation off Faiz Haiqal two minutes from time.


DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pts
THUNDERBOLTS 4 4 0 0 27 3 12
Anderson 4 3 1 0 20 9 10
UNIKL 3 3 0 0 14 1 9
BJSS 4 3 0 1 15 11 9
USM Jnrs 3 1 1 1 10 10 4
MBPJ 5 1 0 4 14 17 3
SSTMI 3 1 0 2 6 16 3
TBSS 5 1 0 4 10 23 3
BJSS Jnrs 5 0 0 5 3 29 0

DIVISION TWO

GROUP A

P W D L F A Pts

SAPURA 5 5 0 0 32 1 15
Poli KPT 6 4 0 2 16 8 12
NUR INSAFI 4 2 1 1 7 5 7
KHA Jnrs 3 1 2 0 3 2 5
KHA-MSNK 4 1 1 2 7 6 4
ANDSON Jnrs 4 1 0 3 8 10 3
MSS Kel 2 1 0 1 3 8 3
MSSPP Jnrs 5 1 0 4 6 21 3
PHNS 3 0 0 3 0 21 0

GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
OLAK 4 3 0 1 8 5 9
PAHANG 5 3 0 2 9 10 9
KLSS 4 2 0 2 11 6 6
MHS 3 2 0 1 4 4 6
MPBP 4 2 0 2 5 5 6
SMKPM 4 1 0 3 8 9 3
DATUK TAHA 3 2 0 1 4 4 6
TUNAS PAHANG 3 0 0 3 3 9 0


RESULTS -- DIVISION ONE: BJSS 4 USM-MSSP 3, TBSS 5 BJSS Juniors 0, MBPJ 2 MBI Anderson 5.
Division Two, Group A: Nur Insafi 3 MSSPP-USM Juniors 1, Kedah HA 4 Negri HA 0, Politeknik PKT 0 Sapura 4,
Division Two, Group B: Padang Midin 2 Yayasan Pahang 3, Tunas Pahang 1 Olak-PKT 2.

TODAY

DIVISION ONE: BJSS Juniors v USM-MSSPP (Ministry of Education, 6pm), MBPJ v SSTMI Juniors (Bukit Jalil, 7pm), BJSS v UniKL (Ministry of Education, 8pm).
Division Two, Group A: Negri HA v Anderson Juniors (Azlan Shah, 4pm), Sapura v Kelantan HA Juniors (KLHA, 6pm), KHA-MSNK MSSPP-USM Juniors (Alor Star, 4pm).
Division Two, Group B: Yayasan Pahang v Olak-PKT (Kuantan, 4pm), Malacca High School v KL Sports School (Malacca, 4pm), Datuk Taha v Tunas Pahang (Seremban II, 4pm).

Malaysia 5 Australia 2

FILE PIC: Razie Rahim (left) took a nasty ball blow on the forehead.

MALAYSIA finally beat Australia 5-2 in their third friendly in Perth yesterday, but penalty corner ace Razie Rahim was rushed to the hospital after the ball hit his forehead.
Malaysia lost the first friendly 3-1, and the second 5-2, but two goals goals from Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin and one each from Amin Rahim, Faizal Saari and Firhan Ashaari sealed the match.
Tom Wickham scored a brace for the World No 1.
Malaysia are preparing for the Dublin Olympic Qualifiers on March 10-18, where they will play South Korea, Ireland, Chile, Ukraine and Russia for the single ticket to London.
At press time, there was no news on how bad the injury on Razie was.

Sapura Juniors hit bright patch

THE Milo-Junior Hockey League (JHL) enters its third week, but the conclusion is damning as only four out of the 26 teams have a smattering of quality players.
The JHL boasts more than 500 players, but only about 10 per cent can be considered as having good basics.
Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) Thunderbolts, UniKL and Anderson have shown some promise early in the league, but the rest, except for Sapura in Division Two, are just making up the numbers.
And the early indications are that Overall champions Thunderbolts and League champions UniKL will share the spoils again this season.
“Many felt that it would be impossible for Sapura to form a new team in their JHL debut, but what a surprise it was when close to 100 turned up for our trials from all over the country,” said Sapura coach I. Vickneswaran.
Sapura are more well known in the senior league, and the junior side was formed this year to make sure they have a steady supply to replace those who retire from their senior side.
“We were very careful to select from the big turnout, as the club only wanted those who were serious in improving their game as we are in it for the long term.
“And out of the 22 selected, we have five students studying around the Klang Valley, while the rest had left school. We only had 13 days of proper training, but have won all four matches to date,” said Vickneswaran.
The club also utilised the services of former Internationals who are playing for their senior side like Megat Azrafiq, S.Kuhan and Faizal Daud to help motivate the young players.
“We have four more matches to play and the aim is to become champions and play in the quarter-finals with Division One teams as we want to set a benchmark in our first season,” said Vickneswaran.
Meanwhile, Kahirul Izwan Jais of Datuk Taha, who was flashed the red card when playing against Olak-PKT, was suspended for two matches for the offence.

DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pts
THUNDERBOLTS 4 4 0 0 27 3 12
UNIKL 3 3 0 0 14 1 9
Anderson 3 2 1 0 15 7 7
BJSS 3 2 0 1 11 8 6
USM Jnrs 2 1 1 0 7 6 4
MBPJ 4 1 0 3 12 12 3
SSTMI 3 1 0 2 6 16 3
TBSS 4 0 0 4 5 23 0
BJSS Jnrs 4 0 0 4 3 24 0

DIVISION TWO
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
SAPURA 4 4 0 0 28 1 12
Poli KPT 5 4 0 1 16 4 12
KHA Jnrs 3 1 2 0 3 2 5
NUR INSAFI 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
ANDSON Jnrs 4 1 0 3 8 10 3
MSS Kel 2 1 0 1 3 8 3
MSSPP Jnrs 4 1 0 3 5 18 3
KHA-MSNK 3 0 1 2 3 6 1
PHNS 2 0 0 2 0 17 0

GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
KLSS 4 2 0 2 11 6 6
PAHANG 4 2 0 2 6 8 6
OLAK 3 2 0 1 6 4 6
MPBP 4 2 0 2 5 5 6
MHS 3 2 0 1 4 4 6
SMKPM 3 1 0 2 6 6 3
DATUK TAHA 3 2 0 1 4 4 3
TUNAS PAHANG 2 0 0 2 2 7 0

DIVISION ONE: BJSS v USM-MSSP (Ministry of Education, 6pm), TBSS v BJSS Juniors (Seremban II, 4pm), MBPJ v MBI Anderson (Bukit Jalil, 5pm).
Division Two, Group A: Kelantan MSSK v Kedah HA Juniors (Ministry of Education, 8pm), Nur Insafi MSSPP-USM Juniors (Sungai Petani, 4pm), Kelantan HA v Negri HA (Alor Star, 4pm), Politeknik PKT v Sapura (KLHA, 7pm),
Division Two, Group B: Padang Midin v Yayasan Pahang (Terengganu, 4pm), Tunas Pahang v Olak-PKT (Kuantan, 4pm).

TOMORROW

DIVISION ONE: BJSS Juniors v USM-MSSPP (Ministry of Education, 6pm), MBPJ v SSTMI Juniors (Bukit Jalil, 7pm), BJSS v UniKL (Ministry of Education, 8pm).
Division Two, Group A: Negri HA v Anderson Juniors (Azlan Shah, 4pm), Sapura v Kelantan HA Juniors (KLHA, 6pm), KHA-MSNK MSSPP-USM Juniors (Alor Star, 4pm).
Division Two, Group B: Yayasan Pahang v Olak-PKT (Kuantan, 4pm), Malacca High School v KL Sports School (Malacca, 4pm), Datuk Taha v Tunas Pahang (Seremban II, 4pm).

Malaysia 2 Australia 5

Note: Australian goals scored by Matt Ghodes (2), Simon Orchard, Jamie Dwyer, Liam De Young.


AUSTRALIA beat Malaysia 5-2 in the second friendly in Perth yesterday, with Razie Rahim scoring a brace against a much stronger Aussie line-up.
Malaysia, who lost the first match 3-1, faced the World No 1 side minus five regulars as the Australians are also trying out new blood.
“It was a much stronger Australian side as compared to the first match, and there was tremendous pressure in the first half.
“However, the players got used to it in the second half and played much better and it was an excellent work out against the best team in the world,” said Malaysian team manager Stephen van Huizen.
Yesterday the match was played with a yellow ball, and on Thursday when the teams square off for the third friendly, the match will be held on a blue turf -- the same as the London Olympics venue.
“Australia have 38 players in training and I believe they will utilise an even stronger side on the blue pitch, and it will be a perfect tune-up to our Dublin Olympics Qualifier,” said Stephen.
Malaysia will play South Korea, Ireland, Chile, Ukraine and Russia in the Dublin Qualifiers where only the gold medallists will advance to the Olympics.
Down Under, the national side will play a total of four friendlies against Australia and two more against the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, SMK Datuk Taha beat Yayasan Pahang 1-0 in Division Two, Group B match with the goal coming off Badrul Hisyam in the 33rd minute. Their earlier encounter in Kuantan last week was washed off by rain.

Flying Sikh gives his 1960 Olympics shoes for charity

Bose was introduced to Milkha by India's 1975 hockey World Cup-winning captain Ajit Pal Singh.

MUMBAI: Indian athletics may not be on the global sporting map just yet, but there are rare moments in the country's track and field history nevertheless that are forever etched in time. None better than Milkha Singh falling painfully short of a medal at the 400m final of the 1960 Rome Olympics by a gut-wrenching fraction of a second.
Milkha or 'Flying Sikh' as he later got christened, is known to have given away all his medals to government museums. However, there's one possession that he never wanted to part with were those Adidas shoes with which he missed the 400m Olympic bronze at Rome, days after setting a 45.8-second world record in the preliminaries of the same event in France.
"I wouldn't part with it even if someone gave me Rs. 10,000 crore," Milkha told Bollywood actor Rahul Bose, who called the legend at his residence in Chandigarh in connection with the second edition of Equation, the actor's sports memorabilia auction to be held on February 11 in Mumbai.
Bose was introduced to Milkha by India's 1975 hockey World Cup-winning captain Ajit Pal Singh. "When I first spoke to Milkha sir over the phone, he said he was a bit unwell, so I let him recover before going across to Chandigarh. Later, when we met, he showed no signs of any illness. He was fine and we chatted enthusiastically. He spoke of how his parents were killed post-partition, leaving him in India to fend for himself.
He told me how he walked a good 20km to and from school each day, bare-footed across scorching earth and having to cross two streams each way. He would cool his feet by rubbing them over the comparatively cooler grass patches. He joined the army and the rest, as they say, is history," Bose told MiD DAY.
As it turned out, the rest of their interaction was historic for Bose too. "I asked Milkha sir if he could give me a picture of him in that Rome race to put up at the auction, but he didn't have one. Then he suddenly got up, walked to his room and returned with a pair of shoes.
I was astonished to learn that it was the very same pair he ran the Rome race with. 'They are priceless to me. I wouldn't part with them even for Rs. 10,000 crore,' he said. And even as I sat there still in awe of those lace-less, old boots in my hand, Milkha sir said, 'tumne mera dil jeet liya hai aaj. Tum yeh jootey le loh (you have won my heart over. Take these shoes)'."

Moved by the effort

Bose believed the ace middle-distance runner was moved by the sheer nature of his charity and the purpose of the auction. "Proceeds from last year's inaugural auction were used to set up operations in Kashmir where we, as the first non-profit organisation, worked towards adopting and creating educational opportunities for 12 children from the land," said Bose, who also has a football autographed by Argentina ace Lionel Messi and an autographed vest from Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel besides other memorabilia in his collection this time round. Milkha's contribution though, is most special!