By Jugjet Singh
jugjet@nst.com.my
IPOH: South Korea played smart hockey to take the Azlan Shah Cup final into shoot out and then a stylish goal from skipper Lee Nam Young saw them lift the Azlan Shah Cup for the third time.
The match ended 1-1, just like the pool stage, but in the end South Korea won the shoot-out 4-2.
Nam Young took the final shoot-out, and charging in, he lifted the ball over the goalkeeper for victory.
India took an early lead off Simranjeet Singh in the 9th minute, and held onto dear life until the last quarter.
Korea never stopped presing, while also keeping India in check, and they were finally rewarded in the 47th minute, when they won a penalty stroke and Jang Jung Hyun almost tore the netting for the equaliser.
The lucky strike took Korea into a shoot out.
For the record, before the final, India had won four golds and shared one with South Korea (1985, 1991, 1995, 2009 and shared 2010 because of rain), while Korea had won in 1996 and shared the 2010 gold.
PLACING: South Korea, India, Malaysia, Canada, Japan, Poland.
AWARDS:
Fairplay (Raja Ashman Shah Trophy): Japan.
Man-of-the-Final: Jang Jung Hyun (Korea).
Top Goal Scorer: Mandeep Singh (India) and Jang Jung Hyun (seven goals each).
Best Goalkeeper: Kim Jae Hyeon (Korea).
Player-of-the-Tournament: Surender Kumar (India).
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Azlan Shah Cup: Malaysia win rare bronze..
By Jugjet Singh
jugjet@nst.com.my
IPOH: Malaysia won a rare Azlan Shah Cup bronze when they beat Canada 4-2 Saturday.
It way way back in 1996 when the first bronze was wrestled away from Great Britain in a 4-3 penalty stroke competition, after the match ended 2-2.
The second bronze should inspire Malaysia to do much better in the FIH Series Finals in Kuala Lumpur on April 26 to May 4.
When Malaysian coach Roelant Oltmans was asked what positives his team will take into the pre-Olympic Qualifier, he was short and sharp.
"Wait and see, wait for the tournament to answer your question.
The other teams in this pre-Olympic Qualifier are not big guns and Malaysia even has the advantage as hosts.
Group A is made up of Canada, Austria, Wales and Belarus.
Malaysia are in Group B with China, Brazil and Italy.
And it looks like Malaysia will play Canada again, if both teams enter the final.
Mark Pearson scored a field goal in the 14th minute, and the capacity crowd went silent for a few minutes, until Nik Aiman Nik Rozemi equalised off a 23rd minute penalty corner.
From then onwards, local boy Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal (29th), Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (30th) and Faizal Saari (45th) made sure the bronze did not slip out of their grasps.
James Wallaca narrowed the gap in the 59th minute, but the clock died on Canada's comeback aspirations.
Malaysia failed against South Korea and India, but retained some pride when they beat Canada twice in a row.
Penalty corners were a big letdown in both the crucial matches to take Malaysia higher up in the tournament.
"We did have a good conversion rate in the other matches, but could have done better in the Korea and India matches.
"We will work on it, and Taeke Taekema (former world class Dutch flicker) will be back with goalkeepers coach Martijn Drijver (also from Netherlands) a week before the Series Finals," said Oltmans who also brought down both the Dutch legends for the Azlan Shah Cup.
RESULTS: Final -- South Korea x India x; Third-Fourth: Malaysia 4 Canada 2; Fifth-Sixth: Japan 6 Poland 1.
jugjet@nst.com.my
IPOH: Malaysia won a rare Azlan Shah Cup bronze when they beat Canada 4-2 Saturday.
It way way back in 1996 when the first bronze was wrestled away from Great Britain in a 4-3 penalty stroke competition, after the match ended 2-2.
The second bronze should inspire Malaysia to do much better in the FIH Series Finals in Kuala Lumpur on April 26 to May 4.
When Malaysian coach Roelant Oltmans was asked what positives his team will take into the pre-Olympic Qualifier, he was short and sharp.
"Wait and see, wait for the tournament to answer your question.
The other teams in this pre-Olympic Qualifier are not big guns and Malaysia even has the advantage as hosts.
Group A is made up of Canada, Austria, Wales and Belarus.
Malaysia are in Group B with China, Brazil and Italy.
And it looks like Malaysia will play Canada again, if both teams enter the final.
Mark Pearson scored a field goal in the 14th minute, and the capacity crowd went silent for a few minutes, until Nik Aiman Nik Rozemi equalised off a 23rd minute penalty corner.
From then onwards, local boy Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal (29th), Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (30th) and Faizal Saari (45th) made sure the bronze did not slip out of their grasps.
James Wallaca narrowed the gap in the 59th minute, but the clock died on Canada's comeback aspirations.
Malaysia failed against South Korea and India, but retained some pride when they beat Canada twice in a row.
Penalty corners were a big letdown in both the crucial matches to take Malaysia higher up in the tournament.
"We did have a good conversion rate in the other matches, but could have done better in the Korea and India matches.
"We will work on it, and Taeke Taekema (former world class Dutch flicker) will be back with goalkeepers coach Martijn Drijver (also from Netherlands) a week before the Series Finals," said Oltmans who also brought down both the Dutch legends for the Azlan Shah Cup.
RESULTS: Final -- South Korea x India x; Third-Fourth: Malaysia 4 Canada 2; Fifth-Sixth: Japan 6 Poland 1.
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Jittery Malaysia blow their chances...
By Jugjet Singh
jugjet@nst.com.my
IPOH: Malaysia fought bravely, but did not use their brains and South Korea shut the Azlan Shah Cup final door on them with a 2-1 win.
South Korea and India will play in the final on Saturday, while Malaysia will have to battle with Canada for a third-fourth placing ticket.
Eleven penalty corners were won, but only one scored, showed how jittery were coach Roelant Oltman's men.
Malaysia were too eager to win the match in the early stages, and paid dearly for it.
They missed many chances, and even a goal scored, as jittery fingers saw them falter in front of the goalmouth.
Korea kept their cool even though the stadium was packed with their rival's fans, including Ultras Malaya who never stopped singing and beating their drums.
However, it was Korea who danced to the drum-beat as Lee Nam Young scored an opportunist goal in the 31st minute and Jang Jong Hyun made it 2-0 off a penalty corner attempt in the 35th.
Malaysia kept up the fight, never giving up, but a goal scored by Firhan Ashaari was disallowed as the umpire and video referal said it was a back-stick attempt.
However, a fightback was inspired by Razie Rahim when he scored off Malaysia's eighth penalty corner in the 48th minute.
And in the 57th minute, there was dramatic moments when Malaysia scored another goal, but the umpire turned it into a penalty corner.
But still, the Koreans held on tightly to the lead.
And in the end,
Malaysia fought bravely, but did not use their brain but only brawn.
"If the umpires had kept their whistle in the pocket a little longer we would have won the match. The players showed a world class performance today and even though they lost, I am still very proud with their display," said Oltmans.
And the Dutch hotly disputed when asked if his charges were jittery.
"Did you watch the game? Did you see the correct match? They were world class," said Oltmans.
When pushed that they played well but were jittery at crucial moments, Oltmans hit the table and said "'No more, next question."
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
INDIA 4 3 1 0 14 6 10
S KOREA 4 3 1 0 12 7 10
MALAYSIA 4 2 0 2 12 10 6
CANADA 4 2 0 2 12 14 6
JAPAN 4 1 0 3 7 8 3
POLAND 4 0 0 4 3 15 0
RESULTS: Poland 0 Japan 3, Canada 3 India 7, Malaysia 1 South Korea 2.
THURSDAY: REST DAY.
FRIDAY: India v Poland (4pm), South Korea v Japan (6pm), Malaysia v Canada (8.35pm).
jugjet@nst.com.my
IPOH: Malaysia fought bravely, but did not use their brains and South Korea shut the Azlan Shah Cup final door on them with a 2-1 win.
South Korea and India will play in the final on Saturday, while Malaysia will have to battle with Canada for a third-fourth placing ticket.
Eleven penalty corners were won, but only one scored, showed how jittery were coach Roelant Oltman's men.
Malaysia were too eager to win the match in the early stages, and paid dearly for it.
They missed many chances, and even a goal scored, as jittery fingers saw them falter in front of the goalmouth.
Korea kept their cool even though the stadium was packed with their rival's fans, including Ultras Malaya who never stopped singing and beating their drums.
However, it was Korea who danced to the drum-beat as Lee Nam Young scored an opportunist goal in the 31st minute and Jang Jong Hyun made it 2-0 off a penalty corner attempt in the 35th.
Malaysia kept up the fight, never giving up, but a goal scored by Firhan Ashaari was disallowed as the umpire and video referal said it was a back-stick attempt.
However, a fightback was inspired by Razie Rahim when he scored off Malaysia's eighth penalty corner in the 48th minute.
And in the 57th minute, there was dramatic moments when Malaysia scored another goal, but the umpire turned it into a penalty corner.
But still, the Koreans held on tightly to the lead.
And in the end,
Malaysia fought bravely, but did not use their brain but only brawn.
"If the umpires had kept their whistle in the pocket a little longer we would have won the match. The players showed a world class performance today and even though they lost, I am still very proud with their display," said Oltmans.
And the Dutch hotly disputed when asked if his charges were jittery.
"Did you watch the game? Did you see the correct match? They were world class," said Oltmans.
When pushed that they played well but were jittery at crucial moments, Oltmans hit the table and said "'No more, next question."
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
INDIA 4 3 1 0 14 6 10
S KOREA 4 3 1 0 12 7 10
MALAYSIA 4 2 0 2 12 10 6
CANADA 4 2 0 2 12 14 6
JAPAN 4 1 0 3 7 8 3
POLAND 4 0 0 4 3 15 0
RESULTS: Poland 0 Japan 3, Canada 3 India 7, Malaysia 1 South Korea 2.
THURSDAY: REST DAY.
FRIDAY: India v Poland (4pm), South Korea v Japan (6pm), Malaysia v Canada (8.35pm).
From vision to reality, Sabah next...
COLUMN
By Jugjet Singh
Pic: Anil, Sabah HA president
IPOH: Malaysia is host to two of the only invitational hockey tournaments in the world, and are working to realise another one soon.
The Azlan Shah Cup and the Under-21 Sultan of Johor Cup is world renowned and even the International Hockey Federation (FIH) is in awe on how Malaysia can consistently organise both flawlessly.
Now, Sabah is planning to host a women's invitational, and newly minted Sabah HA president Datuk Seri Anil Jeet Singh, when met recently, said all they want is more synthetic pitches to be built around the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex, and the tournament will become a reality.
Anil said they need about RM1 million for the additional pitch, and another RM200,000 to make some minor upgrading works to the current pitch.
And Sabah will have a women's invitational moulded to the Azlan Shah Cup.
The Azlan Shah Cup was also born on a simple note, but now it is the most sought after tournament in the world, as all teams need to do is fork out fight tickets and the hosts will provide food, lodging and transport to and from the KLIA.
Nowhere else in the world can one find such generous hosts who have been doing it since 1983, and never missing a beat into its 28th Edition this year.
It all started when the late Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) secretary S. Satgunam was having a difficult time sourcing for funds to travel to Europe and other parts of the world to expose layers.
It was an expensive affair as food, board and transport in Europe costs a bomb, but the late Sultan Azlan Shah was breathing down his neck to expose national players as he knew that was the only way to become better.
Satgunam then came up with an idea to host an invitational in Malaysia, as it would be cheaper to bring six or seven teams down, than flying and playing in seven different countries.
The rest, they say, is pleasant history.
Sultan of Johor Cup is another success story which is partly because of the hard work of MHC vice-president Datuk Manjit Majid Abdullah.
And now, Anil is in the picture to host a women's tournament in Sabah which has direct flights to-and-fro Kota Kinabalu to international destinations.
Malaysia is a wonderful destination for hockey, and all because some people had a plan, and turned it into a vision.
Over to you Anil, to realise another tournament in beautiful Sabah.
Canada tame fighting Japan
IPOH: Canada pulled off an upset of sorts when they edged Japan 2-1 in an epic Azlan Shah battle Monday.
Eventough ranked 10th in the World, Canada did not look impresive but did just enough to claim full points.
Japan were all over them, but man-of-the-match goalkeeper Antoni Kindler brought of some super saves in the fourth quarter.
"I hate hockey, days like this, I really hate hockey," said Japan coach Seigfried Aikman.
"Actually, I really hate losing and not hockey, and Canada are not an impressive team but my players made them look good by missing too many sitters.
"Well, my players also made Canada goalkeeper man-of-the-match by taking poor shots at goal," said Aikman.
Canada took the lead off Balraj Panesar in the 10th minute, but Ryosel Kato equalised in the very next minute, signalling another epic battle.
However, James Kirkpatrick's 41st minute goal ended up being the decider, even though Japan tried every trick in the book to draw level but failed miserably in front of a towering Kindler.
Canada coach Paul Bundy stuck to his learning curve: "It doesn't matter if we had won or lost this match. We can finish tops, or at the bottom of the pool, it does not matter because we came here to learn about ourselves and get ready for the FIH World Series in Kuala Lumpur in April.
"That is where we want results," said Bundy.
In the other match, Poland let slip a famous draw when a last minute blunder of a pass saw South Korea win 3-2.
Poland twice took the lead, but in this haste to win, they threw away three points.
The Poland goals were scored by Joseph Hillyer (28th) and Jacek Kurowski (40th), while the Koreans got their off Lee Namyong (40th), and Jung Manjae (56th, 60th).
Eventough ranked 10th in the World, Canada did not look impresive but did just enough to claim full points.
Japan were all over them, but man-of-the-match goalkeeper Antoni Kindler brought of some super saves in the fourth quarter.
"I hate hockey, days like this, I really hate hockey," said Japan coach Seigfried Aikman.
"Actually, I really hate losing and not hockey, and Canada are not an impressive team but my players made them look good by missing too many sitters.
"Well, my players also made Canada goalkeeper man-of-the-match by taking poor shots at goal," said Aikman.
Canada took the lead off Balraj Panesar in the 10th minute, but Ryosel Kato equalised in the very next minute, signalling another epic battle.
However, James Kirkpatrick's 41st minute goal ended up being the decider, even though Japan tried every trick in the book to draw level but failed miserably in front of a towering Kindler.
Canada coach Paul Bundy stuck to his learning curve: "It doesn't matter if we had won or lost this match. We can finish tops, or at the bottom of the pool, it does not matter because we came here to learn about ourselves and get ready for the FIH World Series in Kuala Lumpur in April.
"That is where we want results," said Bundy.
In the other match, Poland let slip a famous draw when a last minute blunder of a pass saw South Korea win 3-2.
Poland twice took the lead, but in this haste to win, they threw away three points.
The Poland goals were scored by Joseph Hillyer (28th) and Jacek Kurowski (40th), while the Koreans got their off Lee Namyong (40th), and Jung Manjae (56th, 60th).
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