Kuala Lumpur’s Syawal Zakaria raises his stick towards a Selangor player in their match at Seremban II Stadium yesterday. Selangor won 1 - 0. — Pic: OWEE AH CHUN DEFENDING champions Kuala Lumpur suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Selangor in the National Under-16 tournament curtain raiser at the Seremban II Stadium yesterday.
In another Group A match, Perak, who finished fourth last year, hammered Pahang 5-1 to make their intentions clear.
"Namesh plays for Petaling Jaya City Council in the Malaysia Hockey League and he delivered when it mattered as we were looking for a good start," said Selangor coach Paul Raj.
Selangor meet Perak today and Raj added: "Perak are the early favourites because this set of boys were the Under-14 champions, and they have shown great understanding against Pahang today (yesterday).
Perak's Dzahiruddin Ilyas scored in the seventh, ninth, and 34th minutes to complete a hat-trick and put his side in a commanding position.
Perak's other goals were scored by Hanif Saidin (57th) and Shazli Irwan (61st).
Pahang's consolation goal was scored by Hafiz Zainol in the 39th minute.
In a Group B match, Kedah could only muster a 2-2 draw against Singapore. Kedah took a 2-0 lead with goals from Farid Zuki (eighth) and Afdazanizam Nazian (56th) but could not hold onto their advantage and allowed Singapore to score through their skipper Azahari Osman in the 68th and 70th minutes.
RESULTS -- Group A: Kelantan 3 Perlis 2, Pahang 1 Perak 5, Kuala Lumpur 0 Selangor 1; Group B: Johor 1 Terengganu 3, Kedah 2 Singapore 2, Negri Sembilan 2 Penang 5.
TODAY -- Group A: Selangor v Perak, Kuala Lumpur v Perlis, Kelantan v Pahang.
Group B: Terengganu v Penang, Johor v Singapore, Negri Sembilan v Kedah.
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
Perak 1 1 0 0 5 1 3
Kelantan 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
Selangor 1 1 0 0 1 0 3
Perlis 1 0 0 1 2 3 0
K Lumpur 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
Pahang 1 0 0 1 1 5 0
Group B
P W D L F A Pts
Penang 1 1 0 0 5 2 3
Terengganu. 1 1 0 0 3 1 3
Kedah 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
Singapore 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
Johor 1 0 0 1 1 3 0
N Sembilan 1 0 0 1 2 5 0
