JHL turns corner with three sprinters

JOURNALIST CAUGHT WORKING: Aftar Singh from the Star (left), Jugjet Singh from the New Straits Times and UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium after UniKL beat Anderson 6-1 in the Junior Hockey League. Photo from UniKL Facebook.

THE MHF-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League Division One title race is fast turning into a three-horse affair, and very little separates the early sprinters at this early stage.
Debutantes UniKL have been impressive but hot on their heels are Bandar Penawar Sports School-Thunderbolt and double champions Bukit Jalil Sports School.
UniKL beat Anderson and Petaling Jaya City Council by six goals each but there were moments of madness in the team which should be of concern to their coach I. Vikneswaran.
“Winning matches is one thing, but consistency is required to win the title in a close tournament like this,” said Vikneswaran.
The missing link for the new-comers is a bungling strike- force as they should have won by double digit margins instead of scoring only six.
“Against the two sports schools, chances will be few in between, so I will have to polish the strikers finishing before the weekend.”
Among the three, Thunderbolt looks like the team to beat in Division One this year.
Powered by national player, Faisal Saari, Thunderbolt are keeping pace with UniKL by winning all three matches convincingly.
The Thunderbolts have scored a total of 17 goals and conceded only three, and will increase their tally when they square off against Anderson on Friday.
FRIDAY: Division One -- Bukit Jalil Sports School v Petaling Jaya City Council (Tun Razak, 7pm), BPSS-Thunderbolt v Anderson (Bandar Penawar, 5pm), Kelantan v Bukit Jalil Sports School (Terengganu, 5pm).
Division Two: Tunku Besar Secondary School v Pahang (Tampin, 5pm), Kuala Selangor v Johor (Pandamaran, 5pm), Matri v Datuk Taha (Alor Star, 5pm).
SUNDAY: Division One -- Petaling Jaya City Council v Bandar Penawar Juniors (Tun Razak, 8pm), Kelantan v Anderson (Terengganu, 5pm), UniKL v Bukit Jalil Sports School Juniors (KLHA Stadium, 5pm).
Division Two: Matri v Sabah (Alor Star, 5pm), Kuala Selangor v Ipoh City Council (Pandamaran, 5pm), Johor v Pahang (Johor Baru, 5pm).

Sapura player tests positve for party drug

A SAPURA Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) player tested positive for party drug after he was snared in a random doping dragnet conducted by the National Sports Institute.
The player’s A sample returned positive, and he has been sent a letter to show up so that his B sample can be tested in his presence, but he has yet to turn up.
Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) Medical Committee chairman Datuk Dr S.S. Cheema did not confirm or deny the allegation.
“Yes, there was random testing done during the MHL but I can’t comment on the matter because there are many technicalities involved, and one needs to be sure (test B sample) before any further announcements can be made on the matter,” said Dr Cheema.
However, when some Sapura players were approached on the matter, they at first denied, but then concurred with the allegation.
“It is an open secret among Sapura players that one of our members tested positive for party drug in his A sample, but the issue has been hushed up because the B sample has yet to be tested,” said one player who declined to be named.
However it was learnt that if the player does not respond to the letter and refuses to show up to test his second sample, he will be found guilty.
“Rest assured that any player found guilty of violating doping standards will be dealt with severely. The MHF have been conducting random testing during most of our tour naments and will continue doing so to weed out abusers,” said Dr Cheema.
There are also allegations that players from a certain team in the ongoing under-19 Junior Hockey League (JHL) are also abusing party drugs.
“We have plans to conduct random tests on JHL players, and if any official or player has concrete evidence on the matter, please approach the MHF and we will test the said player(s) and clear the air,” said Cheema.

Malaysian women grounded by European ash

THE Malaysian women’s hockey team, who were supposed to travel to Chile yesterday, were grounded by the volcanic ash from Iceland which has enveloped Europe and grounded air travel.
“We are in contact with the FIH (International Hockey Federation) and they told us that even Ireland and Scotland are unable to travel to Chile.
“We need at least five days to get acclimatised after travelling for more than 44 hours via Frankfurt to Chile and it looks like the FIH will have to reschedule the tournament fixtures,” said Malaysian Women’s Hockey Federation sec retary S. Shamala.
The women’s World Cup Qualifier is supposed to start on April 24-May 5 with Australia being the favourites to snatch the single ticket.
The FIH are expected to make an announcement on Monday.

UniKL on a lucky streak

UNIKL started off on a sloppy note, but made amends in the second half to thrash Petaling Jaya City Council (PJCC) 6-2 in Division One of the MHF-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League yesterday.
Playing in front of a large following at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium, UniKl survived many early scares when they were swamped by PJCC strikers.
Sabri Mohamad (ninth) and Zulhairi Hashim (35th) gave UniKL a 2-0 lead going into the breather but both were opportunistic goals.
PJCC pulled one back two minutes after the restart, when Rifhan Azhar was on target, and the match looked like it was heading for an upset.
However, UniKL surged ahead with more lucky goals Syamim Yusoffrom (50th), Aminuddin Abu(55th, 58th) and Sabri Mohamad (67th).
The second PJCC goal was scored off a penalty stroke by Azuwan Mahiden in the 56th minute.
“We were lucky to take a 2-0 lead after the first half hooter blew, as PJCC were the attacking side while my players scored both the goals off a handful of breaks that we got.
“The 6-2 score does not do justice to the way PJCC played, and sometimes, a team needs a lucky break like this to continue their march,” said UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran.

RESULTS: Division One — Bukit Jalil 3 Anderson 1, Thunderbolt 8 Kelantan 1, UniKL 6 Petaling Jaya CC 2.
Division Two: Datuk Taha 2 Johor 2, Pahang 2 Matri 1.

DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pt
UNIKL 4 4 0 0 22 5 12
BP T’BOLT 3 3 0 0 17 3 9
BJSS 3 3 0 0 7 1 9
ANDERSON 5 3 0 2 11 12 9
BPSS JUNIORS 3 1 0 2 4 8 3
BJSS JUNIORS 3 0 1 2 2 7 1
KELANTAN 3 0 1 2 3 16 1
MWHA 3 0 0 3 4 9 0
PJCC 3 0 0 3 3 12 0

DIVISION TWO

P W D L F A Pt
TBSS 3 2 1 0 12 3 7
IPOH CC 3 2 1 0 7 2 7
SABAH 2 2 0 0 16 0 6
PAHANG 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
PG FREES 2 0 2 0 4 4 2
JOHOR 2 0 1 1 3 6 1
DATUK TAHA 3 0 1 2 2 11 1
MATRI 2 0 0 2 1 4 0
K. SELANGOR 2 0 0 2 0 16 0

UniKL the team to beat for title

UNIKL, with 13 budding juniors on their team, are ex pected to continue their romp in Division One of the MHF- Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League when they square off against Petaling Jaya City Council (PJCC) today.
The fact that UniKL hammered Anderson 6-1 on Friday is set so send shivers down the spines of PJCC players, as they lost 2-0 to Anderson.
“Even though we hammered a team which had beaten PJCC, the fact still remains that we will have to play consistent hockey for 70 minutes and only then rate our opponent today,” said UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran.
UniKL share nine points with Anderson on the Division One standings, but they have only played three matches while Anderson four.
And if UniKL continue their winning streak today, they only have Bukit Jalil Sports School and Bandar Penawar Sports School-Thunderbolt to beat before they can unofficially claim the Division One title in their maiden JHL outing.
TODAY: Division One — Bukit Jalil v Anderson (KLHA Stadium, 3pm), Thunderbolt v Kelantan (Bandar Penawar, 5pm), UniKL v Petaling Jaya CC (KLHA Stadium, 5pm).
Division Two: Datuk Taha v Johor (Tampin, 5pm), Pahang v Matri (Kuatan, 5pm).



DIVISION ONE

P W D L F A Pt
UNIKL 3 3 0 0 16 3 9
ANDERSON 4 3 0 1 10 9 9
BP T’BOLT 2 2 0 0 9 2 6
BJSS 2 2 0 0 4 0 6
BPSS JUNIORS 2 1 0 1 4 6 3
MWHA 3 0 0 3 4 9 0
BJSS JUNIORS 3 0 0 3 1 8 0
PJCC 2 0 0 2 1 6 0
KELANTAN 1 0 0 1 1 7 0


DIVISION TWO


P W D L F A Pt
TBSS 3 2 1 0 12 3 7
IPOH CC 3 2 1 0 7 2 7
SABAH 2 2 0 0 16 0 6
PG FREES 2 0 2 0 4 4 2
MATRI 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
DATUK TAHA 2 0 0 2 0 9 0
K. SELANGOR 2 0 0 2 0 16 0
JOHOR 1 0 0 1 1 4 0
PAHANG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0