Friday, December 5, 2008

Ernst & Young playing to break jinx

ERNST & Young will start their quest for an elusive double in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) when they square off against Royal Malay Regimen in the first leg quarter-finals at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Ernst & Young, who won the League title comfortably, however, have not been lucky in their quest for the Overall title.
And team manager George Koshy feels the time is right to break their six-year jinx: “The team has been performing well in the League, and I feel we will finally land the elusive title this year.”
Ernst & Young have the distinction of playing in six Overall finals, and it was heart-break each time as they only have silver medals to show.
Their first final appearance was in 2001, and then they made the cut on five consecutive occasions from 2003.
The last two years were especially disappointing, as the gold medals slipped between their fingers on penalty strokes to Sapura and Tenaga Nasional.
As for National Juniors, coach K. Rajan is also optimistic of his charges.
“We lost 3-1 and then drew 2-2 in the League, and we will give Tenaga Nasional a good fight in the last-weight, with an eye to upset the defending champions.”
TODAY - Q-finals, 1st Leg: Ernst & Young v RMR (National Stadium, 8pm), Tenaga Nasional v National Juniors (KLHA Stadium, 8pm), JLJ v Sapura (Tun Razak Stadium, 8pm); Dec 10: Nur Insafi v Maybank (Penang, 5pm).
Return Leg - Sunday: RMR v Ernst & Young (Tun Razak, 5pm), National Juniors v Tenaga Nasional (National Stadium, 5pm), Sapura v JLJ (KLHA Stadium, 5pm); Dec 13: Maybank v Nur Isnafi (Seremban II, 5pm).