KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) will battle three continents when they face Yayasan Negri Sembilan (YNS) in the first leg semi-final of the TNB Cup at the Tun Razak Stadium today.
The other semi-final will see ‘diesel engine’ Sapura take on and TNB Cup holders Tenaga Nasional.
KLHC, with seven national players, former internationals and national juniors, will face three Pakistanis and five Indian players as well as one a Bangladeshi.
“It does feel like Malaysia playing against a combination of India and Pakistan, but I am confident that we will win and enter the final,” said KLHC skipper Azlan Misron.
Azlan, who had skippered the national team before, was among the those who helped Malaysian finish second in the Asian Games.
His confidence stems from the fact that KLHC beat YNS with comfortable 6-3 and 7-2 scores margins in the League.
“We know their style of play, and it should not be a problem for us to start with a win in the first leg, and then consolidate our position in the return leg,” said Azlan.
However, the match is not expected to be as lopsided as in the League, as YNS have all but one of their foreign players for the semis.
“We did not have a full side in the League as many of our foreign signings went back to play in their domestic tournaments regularly, and as we suffered as a consequence.
“However, with the exception of Prabhjot (Singh), we will have the full squad and if India and Pakistan can click like they did in the quarter-finals, we have a 50-50 chance,” said YNS coach Hasnizam Ah Sim.
The Pakistanis are penalty corner specialist Mohamed Imran, Shakeel Abbasi and Mohamed Waqas Sharif. The five Indian players in YNS are Deepak Thakur, Probhjot Singh, Vivek Gupta, S. Aravind and goalkeeper Tarun Thammanah. The Bangladeshi is Mosuir Rahman Biplop.
As for Sapura, TNB coach Nor Saiful Zaini said: “They are like a diesel engine, as they struggled at the start, but are in full steam right now. They are a dangerous side, and we will have to give our best to deny them a spot in the final.”
Sapura skipper S. Kuhan said their main concern will would be Tenaga goalkeeper S. Kumar.
“For me, Kumar is the best goalkeeper in the world and TNB are built around him and his stout defenders Amin (Rahim), Baljit Singh and Madzli Ikmar.
“I expect Kumar to make our life difficult in both legs, but we have our own plans on how to overcome that because we have three penalty corner flickers who have been scoring regularly in the League,” said Kuhan.
A thin line separates teams in the semi-finals, and the first leg results might not be enough to claim a ticket to the final.
