Heat is on in Kuantan, JB doubtful

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club will be looking for a clean break from the chasing pack when they play UniKL in the Premier Division of the Malaysia hockey League at the Kuantan Stadium today.
KLHC are just two points away from second placed UniKL, and look good to snatch full points judging from the first round 4-0 drubbing they handed the university side.
And the next day, KLHC will play UITM, whom they whipped 1-0 in the first round.
“The League will being its second round journey, and I have told my players to forget the earlier encounters. We did beat UniKL and UITM with healthy margins in the first round, but will not take matters for granted in Kuantan,” said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
KLHC will be fielding their full side after five matches, as Nabil Fiqri Mohd Noor has served his five-match suspension for his involvement in a shoving match with Yayasan Negri Sembilan players.
“UniKL have improved much since we beat them, and that us why it is important that my players give their best tomorrow (today) and after that, we will not be looking for goals but just three more points from UITM.
“Nabil will be back after five matches, and our injury list is also clean, as all of them have recovered and will play in Kuantan,” said Dharmaraj.
While KLHC are almost assured of maximum points, third placed Tenaga Nasional will have their hands full against Sapura are could drift further down the standings if they keep up with their erratic form which saw them lost 1-0 to Yayasan Negri Sembilan last weekend in Penang.
Meanwhile the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru, which is supposed to host the MHL teams on Feb 18 and 19, have been hit by electrical problems to their floodlights.
The Stadium, which was hosted for the 2009 Junior World Cup, is hardly 18-months old, but switchboards are said to have been stolen.
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) will seek answers from the Johor HA during their council meeting in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow, and if the problem can’t be fixed, the Johor round will be held at the Tun Razak Stadium instead.


STANDINGS

PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pt
KLHC 8 6 1 1 38 12 19
UNIKL-TRC 8 5 2 1 14 10 17
TNB 8 5 1 2 16 8 16
YNS 8 5 0 3 26 20 15
NUR INSAFI 8 4 1 3 15 19 13
SAPURA 8 4 0 4 25 19 12
MAYBANK 8 1 3 4 6 12 6
ATM-AIROD 8 2 0 6 9 27 6
UITM 8 0 0 8 11 33 0

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 6 5 1 0 15 3 16
BPSS 6 4 0 2 12 10 12
BJSS 6 4 0 2 14 6 12
MALACCA CC 7 3 0 4 10 9 9
IPOH CH 7 2 2 3 12 15 8
USM 6 2 0 4 8 17 6
UNITEN 6 0 1 5 3 14 1

PREMIER DIVISION: Today (All Matches at the Kuantan Stadium): Tenaga Nasional v Sapura (3.30pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v UniKL (5.51pm), Yayasan Negri Sembilan v Nur Insafi (7pm), Armed Forces-Airod v UiTM (8.45pm).
Tomorrow: Maybank v UniKL (3pm), Tenaga Nasional v Nur Insafi (4.45pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v UiTM (6.30pm), Yayasan Negri Sembilan v Armed Forces-Airod (8.15pm).
DIVISION ONE: Sunday -- Ipoh City Council v Bukit Jalil Sports School (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), Bandar Penawar Sports School v Malacca CC (Bandar Penawar, 5pm), Armed Forces Juniors v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Tun Razak Stadium, 5pm).