Made-in-Malaysia KLHC the best bet

FOREIGN players have turned out to be more of a bane, than help, for many teams who relied heavily on them in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League.
A total of 26 foreign players are involved in the League, with Yayasan Negri Sembilan having the lion’s share of 11, mostly Pakistanis.
Nur Insafi have eight, UniKL four while Sapura three.
However, local based Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) lead the standings and look the best bet to lift the League title, while another local-based side Tenaga Nasional won the Charity Shield and are third on the standings.
UniKL, in second spot, made some good foreign buys who have jelled well with the local young talent, and have made a great improvement from their bottom placed finish last season.
But Sapura, Nur Insafi and Yayasan Negri Sembilan have been on a roller-coaster ride due to injuries to their for eigners, and the habitual never-ending disappearing act of their foreign imports.
Sapura were hard hit when Rehan Butt went home to play for his club, while Korean Lim Woo Geun is down with groin injury. Their goalkeeper David Kettle from Wales, is also down with suspected kidney.
With the absence of the trio, Sapura barely won both their weekend fixtures, as they were lucky that their opponents were not sharp enough in the semi-circle.
Coach I. Vickneswaran admitted: “We were lucky to win both the matches (2-1 against both YNS and UiTM) because their forwards were not sharp enough to snatch on the many opportunities that we gave away. It would have been dis astrous, otherwise.”
YNS, however, were not as lucky when their Pakistan back- bone returned home to play in an inter-department tour nament.
Inter-department? Yes, defender Mohamed Imran and forwards Shakeel Abbasi and Muhammad Waqas Sharif left to play for their departments whn YNS needed them most against Sapura and Tenaga Nasional.
Needless to say, they lost both the matches even though they still had eight more imports to rely upon.
Nur Insafi also suffered over the weekend with only 13 players (one reserve outfield, and a reserve goalkeeper) because their Pakistan imports had to go home for a domestic league. They lost three crucial points in the 3-1 defeat to bottom-placed UiTM, and two points in the 1-1 draw against UniKL.
KLHC, who have the most number of national players, will get their chance to seal the League title next weekend when they play against YNS and Sapura, and hammer home the point that is it better to rely on the best in the country, than to invest in foreign players who have mid-way commitments -- for their departments.
PREMIER DIVISION: Friday -- Sapura v Nur Insafi (3.30pm), Maybank v UiTM (5.15pm), Tenaga Nasional v Armed Forces-Airod (7pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v Yayasan Negri Sembilan (8.45pm).
* All matches at the Tun Razak Stadium.
Saturday: Nur Insafi v Armed Forces-Airod (4pm), Sapura v Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (6pm), Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (8pm), UniKL v Yayasan Negri Sembilan (KLHA Stadium, 5pm).
* All other matches at the Tun Razak Stadium.
DIVISION ONE: Friday -- UniTen v Ipoh City Hall (KLHA Stadium, 5pm), Armed Forces Jnrs v Bukit Jalil Sports School (Education Ministry, 5pm), Malacca City Council v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Malacca, 5pm).
Sunday: Ipoh City Hall v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), UniTen v Bukit Jalil Sports School (KLHA Stadium, 5pm), Armed Forces Jnrs v Bandar PE nawar Sports School (Bandar Penawar, 5pm).

PREMIER DIVISION

P W D L F A Pt
KLHC 11 9 1 1 50 17 28
UNIKL 12 7 3 2 21 16 24
TNB 11 7 1 3 25 14 22
SAPURA 11 7 0 4 31 21 21
YNS 12 7 0 5 38 28 21
NUR INSAFI 12 4 2 6 21 34 14
MAYBANK 11 2 3 6 12 18 9
ATM 12 2 0 10 12 37 6
UITM 12 2 0 10 18 43 6

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 8 7 1 0 21 4 22
BPSS 7 5 0 2 15 11 15
BJSS 7 4 0 3 15 8 12
IPOH CH 9 3 2 4 15 19 11
MALACCA CC 8 3 0 5 10 10 9
USM 8 2 0 6 11 25 6
UNITEN 7 1 1 5 6 16 4