Kelantan-KLSS in Milo Cup

KUALA Lumpur Sports School (KLSS) and Kelantan yesterday confirmed their spots in the NSC-Milo-MHC JUnior Hockey League Milo Cup quarter-finals starting on Feb 22.
  In the Division Two semi-finals yesterday, Kelantan came back from two goals down to beat Politeknik PKT in sudden-death after both both teams were tied 3-3 in regulation time. In the other semis, KLSS beat Anderson Juniors 5-1 with ease.
  The Division Two finals, and bronze match, will be played on Sunday but KLSS and Kelantan have already booked their tickets to play with Division One teams Tengku Mahkota Ismail Sports School, Petaling Jaya City Council, UniKL, Andersons, Tengku Mahkota Ismail Sports School Juniors and Malacca High School.
  The top three teams SSTMI, PJCC, UniKL and Andersons are seeded while the other three will draw lots on Monday to determine their opponents.
  Yesterday, the KLSS goals were scored by Nur Faiz Rosli (third, 46th), Jagveen Singh (34th), Adib Zahiruddin (42nd), Zulhazwan Hashim (55th). The Anderson Juniors consolation was scored by Najme Ahmad (60th).
  The Politeknik goals were scored by Kamarul Ariffin (11th, 55th), Arif Ibrahim (28th); while Kelantan replied off Shahrul Akhimullah (32nd), Fitri Zaidi (35th) and Fitri Zairi (49th) to take the match into extra-time.
  And Saufian Othman nailed the extra-time winner for Kelantan off a penalty corner attempt to take his side into the Milo Cup.
  However, Kelantan lost their key player Ashraf Noor to a red card in the 72nd minute and he will be sorely missed in the Division Two finals, as well as the Milo Cup.
  "It was a bruising win as not only did we have to come back from two goals down, but also lost our key player Ashraf to a red card. Now, we wil be the underdogs in the Division Two final, as well as the knock-out Milo Cup," said Kelantan coach Hamzi Shaari.
  Meanwhile, the national juniors hockey team left for Bangalore, India, yesterday to compete in the Bangalore Super League which has 14 teams.
  Coach Dharmaraj's boys will be in India for two weeks, as an early preparation for the Junior World Cup on Dec 5-16.
  However, their appearance is only as sparring partners, as their matches will not be counted on the standings.
  DIVISION TWO: Semi-finals -- Kelantan 3 Politeknik PKT 3 (Kelantan win on sudden-death goal), Kuala Lumpur Sports School 5 Anderson Juniors 1.
   SUNDAY: Division Two Final: Kelantan v KLSS (7pm); Third-Fourth: Anderson Juniors v Politeknik PKT (5pm).
   Both matches at National Stadium Bukit Jalil.
 

Hockey escape Olympics exit

New Delhi: Officials and former players associated with the game of hockey expressed shock on learning that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) mulled to remove hockey from the Olympic programme in 2020 but eventually put wrestling in the group of 8 sports fighting for one spot.

    TV ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping and global popularity were the factors assessed by IOC's programme commission before deciding to put baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, wakeboarding, wrestling and wushu on the slicing table.
   "It's the pinnacle of our game and if we were no longer an Olympic sport, it would be crushing for our players," England Hockey chief executive Sally Munday told BBC.
   According to BBC, hockey was one of the five sports facing the heat at the meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Tuesday, and was still under threat after early round of voting in which canoeing and taekwondo survived. Hockey survived a close shave in the penultimate round of three sports, where it contested with wrestling and modern pentathlon.
   "Hockey is one of the core sports of the Olympic Games and has been for a very long time, and following the huge success of hockey at last summer's Olympics in London, it was a bit of a shock to hear that hockey was in the bottom five," a surprised Munday told BBC. "As far as hockey is concerned, the success at London was massive and it was the third biggest sport in terms of ticket numbers. Over 630,000 were sold for the Games," she added.
   Former India Olympian Jagbir Singh also seemed annoyed hearing the news. "Just have a look at the viewership of the Hockey India League (HIL) and you will know how popular this game is," he told Times of India. "If they were thinking of removing hockey as an Olympic sport, they better forget it."

IBNLive

Champs move into Milo Cup knock-out..

THE Division Two semi-finals of of the MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League is expected to be explosive affairs as the winners will move into the knock-out stage of the Milo Cup.
     The one-match playoff semi-final winners will join six teams from Division One for the knock-out challenge, making the final on Sunday a money making adventure.
    This is because the champions will receive RM12,000, silver medallists RM8,500, while the third spot has a tag of RM7,000 and the fourth spot RM6,000.
   Group A champions Kelantan will square off against Politeknik KPT in one semi final while the other will see Group B champions KL Sports School battling against Anderson Juniors.
    And on paper, Kelantan and KL Sports School have a slight advantage over their opponents as both teams ended undefeated after eight matches in their respective groups.
     Kelantan also hold the distinction of scoring 38 goals and conceding only 10, and won all their matches with relative ease, considering Kelantan does not even have an artificial pitch.
   Their opponents Politeknik KPT are no pushovers as well as they only lost one match in Group B, a narrow 2-1 defeat to eventual table toppers KLSS.
     The second semis will see players from two project schools up against each other.
     TODAY: Semi-finals: Kelantan v Politeknik KPT (5pm, Pitch I), KL Sports School v Anderson Juniors 5pm, Pitch II).

22nd time lucky?

Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin in a failed attempt at the Irish goalmouth. Picture by MOHD HELMI DAWI
THE Azlan Shah Cup dream could turn out to be a nightmare yet again, even as Malaysia move into high gear for the Invitational tournament which will be held in Ipoh on March 9-17.
   For back in the fray are World No 2 Australia, who sat out last year, and also defending champions New Zealand who grabbed the title by edging Argentina 1-0 last year.
   Malaysia have never won the Cup even after playing in the tournament 21 times, and the 22nd Edition is expected to be no different.
    But the title would not matter is Malaysia beat the three Asian teams in Pakistan, India and South Korea, as  they will be meeting the trio again in the Asia Cup in Ipoh on Aug 24-Sept 1.
    “The team have been moving nicely since we last played in the Champions Challenge I in Argentina, and the three wins against Ireland were a big boost ahead of the Azlan Shah Cup.
    “However, we need a few more training sessions as well as matches before we name the final squad for the Azlan Shah Cup,” said assistant coach Arul Selvaraj.
    Malaysia, even though without No 1 goalkeeper S. Kumar, striker Faizal Saari and defender Baljit Singh; still managed to beat Ireland 4-2, 3-0 and 3-1 in the three recent Tests.
    “Everybody has been giving their best in training as well as matches and it would be tough to select the final 18. That is a good sign that the team is progressing well.
   “We know the score, that we need to get results against the three Asian team as we will be playing them again in the Asia Cup for the single ticket to the World Cup,” said Arul.
     The three Tests showed Malaysia have fallen back in their penalty corner conversions, as many went to waste, and this is one are that needs to be sharper to produce results in both the tournaments in Ipoh.

Malaysia truly beat the Irish...

MALAYSIA kept a clean slate when they beat Ireland 3-1 in the Third Test at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.
  The national team had already sealed the three-Test series before entering the pitch yesterday as they had beaten the Irish 4-2 in the First Test on Sunday, and 3-0 in the Second Test on Monday.
  Shane O Donoghue had give the Irish an early lead, but it was cancelled by Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin off a field attempt in the 18th minute and the score remained until the half-time.
  Razie Rahim gave Malaysia the lead in the 42nd minute while Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin made it 3-1 in the 66th minute.
  The players are being primed for the Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh on March 9-17 where they will play Asian teams India, Pakistan and South Korea and Oceania sides Australia and last year's champions New Zealand.
  The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) are still waiting for a reply from another team to make it a seven-team tournament.
  New Zealand, who beat Argentina 1-0 last year, have selected a youthful side for this edition while Malaysia will use the Irish Tests to select their best.
  As after that, they will be involved in two World Cup Qualifiers in the Hockey World League semi-finals in Johor Baru on June 29-July 7, as well as the Asia Cup in Ipoh on Aug 24-Sept 1.