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DOUBLE FLICK: Amin Rahim (left) and Razie Rahim, will represent Tenaga and KLHC respectively in the MHL Premier Division.KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) will be banking on a strong local outfit to defend their Malaysia Hockey League (MHF) Premier Division League title from Dec 17.
KLHC won the League title with a match to spare, but they finished with a bronze in the Overall battle.
And as a curtain raiser, KLHC will square off against Overall champions Tenaga Nasional in the Charity Shield on Dec 17.
“On paper, we have a strong local line-up with players who won silver in the Asian Games and also former internationals who are intent on making a comeback.
“However, looking at the player list of the other teams, especially those with foreign players, I feel it is going to be a very challenging tournament this year,” said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
Some of KLHC’s notable national players are Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Shahrun Nabil, Razie Rahim, Azlan Misron and goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin.
“In today’s game, good flickers and goalkeepers are an asset to win titles and I believe Tenaga Nasional have the best in the country. With (S.) Kumar in goal and Amin Rahim as a flicker, I believe Tenaga will be one of the early title contenders,” said Dharmaraj.
Last season, Tenaga won the Charity Shield as well at the Overall title and Kumar was named as the Best Goalkeeper, while Amin was the Tournament Top Scorer with 15 goals.
KLHC will also be fielding Ismail Abu, Megat Azrafiq, Kelvinder Singh and Chua Boon Huat who will be attempting to impress the national selectors again.
“Among all the former national players, I see Megat as the most improved and his dedication in training is excellent. I hope he will perform in the League, as he is still young and can make a come-back if he works hard enough.
“Kelvinder is still bogged down with injuries, while Ismail is a little rusty after a long lay-off,” said Dharmaraj.
Kelvinder, Ismail and Megat were team-mates in the 2005 Junior World Cup and went on to represent the national team but lost their touch to injuries and weight as well as disciplinary problems.
The nine teams in Premier Division are KLHC, Armed Forces-Airod, Maybank, Nur Insafi, Sapura, Tenaga, UiTM, UniKL and Yayasan Negri Sembilan.
KLHC Team: Roslan Jamaluddin (Gk), Kairulnizam Ibrahim (Gk), Baljit Singh Sarjab, Chua Boon Huat, Noor Faeez, S. Shanker, Shahrun Nabil, Harvinder Singh, Fitri Saari, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Azli Misron, Ismail Abu, Amerullah Aziz, Ahmad Anuar Sham, Azlan Misron (C), Nabil Fiqri, Razie Rahim, Sukri Mutalib, Kelvinder Singh, Megat Azrafiq, Sufian Mohamad, Hairulnizam Maizan.
Officials: Team Manager: George Koshy; Coach: K. Dhar maraj; Asst Coach: R. Vivekanandan.
By JJ ShahJOHOR scored a first in Malaysian hockey by becoming the first state to bring the men’s and women’s hockey association under one roof and take the sport to new heights.
The merger between the two associations was a unanimous decision taken at the Johor Hockey Association’s (JHA) 32nd biennial general meeting in Johor Bahru over the weekend.
This is in line with the FIH’s rule that all countries must have only one national association, for both men and women, which has not been strictly enforced by some countries, including Malaysia.
Putting that aside, the biggest surprise at the BGM was when state executive councilor for youth and sports Jais Sarday was voted in uncontested as the new JHA president, replacing incumbent Tunku Abdul Majid Idris Sultan Iskandar, who did not show up.
Tunku Majid, the Bendahara of Johor and former MHF deputy president, recently, lost his bid to make a comeback to the national body which is headed by the Tengku Mahkota of Pahang Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
With his exit as the JHA president, Tunku Majid has severed his links with hockey at both state and national level
Recently elected MHF vice-president Majid Manjit Abdullah, relinquished his post as secretary and moved up the ranks in JHA as one of the two deputy presidents. The other is A. Harbhajan Singh. Both won uncontested.
The four vice-presidents elected are Ledang district officer Amran Abdul Rahman, Putri Wangsa state assemblyman Datuk Abdul Halim Sulaiman, Customs Superintendent A. Parmjit Singh and former Batu Pahat district officer Datuk Awang Mohamad.
Shahabudin Royani was unanimously elected the new secretary while entrepreneur Idris Othman is the treasurer. The appointment of assistant secretary is left to the president.
The six elected as committee members are R. Balakrishnan Nair (JB), Jai Prakash (Segamat), Malek Khiew (Kluang), Murugan Nair (JB), Zahari Othman (Batu Pahat) and Fakharudin Abdul Kadir (Muar).
The new Royal Patron is the Tunku Mahkota of Johor Tunku Ismail Ibrahim while Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman is the patron.
At the BGM, the delegates also unanimously agreed to change the JHA constitution with the JHA Congress as the ultimate authority governing the association.
“Of late, Johor hockey has taken a slide. But we aim to stop the rot and take the game to new heights and make Johor a hockey powerhouse in the country,” said Majid Manjit.
RESULTS: Ipoh City Council 3 Malacca City Council 2, Bukit Jalil SS 5 Universiti Sains Malaysia 1, Bandar Penawar SS 3 UniTen 1.
BUKIT Jalil Sports School (BJSS) salvaged some pride when they beat Universiti Sains Malaysia 5-1 in Division One of the Malaysia Hockey League yesterday.
BJSS, who lost to Armed Forces Juniors 2-1 on Friday, were still not impressive, but did just enough to score five against a weak USM side.
The MHL is just into its second fixtures, but two red cards have been flashed. On Friday, Ipoh City Council player Mohamed Rasyid was shown the red, while yesterday, USM player Nor Azami Zani picked up the red for an off-the-ball incident.
The BJSS’ hero was G. Kavin Kartik who notched a hat- trick with goals in the 10th, 50th and 67th minutes. The other goals were scored by Dangerous Lee (16th) and Faridzul Afiq (38th).
The USM goal was scored by Azwar Rahman in the 22nd minute.
Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) got off to a winning start when they beat UniTen 3-1 in their first match yes terday.
BPSS got their goals off Shahril Saabah (11th) and Nor Hafiq Gaffar (43rd, 64th). The UniTen goal was scored by Abbas Nekmat in the 56th minute.
“I am happy with the margin, but not with the way the boys played today (yesterday). They have played much better in friendlies, and their penalty corners were also impressive during training, but in real match temperament, they just seem to lose focus,” said BJSS coach S. Prakash.
DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pts
Ipoh CC 2 1 1 0 4 3 4
BJSS 2 1 0 1 6 3 3
BPSS 1 1 0 0 3 1 3
Army Jnrs 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
Malacca CC 2 1 0 1 3 3 3
UniTen 2 0 1 1 2 4 1
USM 2 0 0 2 1 6 0
THE Malaysia Hockey League )MHL) Premier Division closing date for registration of players was extended to next Friday, as teams are still scrambling to secure top-flight players.
Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club have Sohail Abbas from Pakistan on their mind, but he is only expected to confirm or decline on Monday.
Sohail scored the first goal to dent Malaysia’s hopes in the Asian Games, where we lost 2-0 to Pakistan in the final.
Yesterday, Sapura, UniKL, KL Hockey Club and Nur Insafi confirmed their foreign players, while Yayasan Negri Sem bilan are still in talks with India players as well as their coach Harendra Singh.
Harendra quit the India national team after they could only win bronze in the Asian Games.
YNS are looking to field Deepak Thakur and Prabjhot Singh of India and Shakeel Abbasi from Pakistan.
Sapura have secured Rehan Butt of Pakistan, South Ko rea's Lim Woo Guen and Welsh second choice keeper David James Kettle.
Nur Insafi will again have a battery of foreign players as they have named India and Pakistan players Ramesh Kumar, Abdul Asim Khan, Imran Khan Yusouf Zai, Prem Kumar, Bikash Toppo, Shahbir Ahmad Khan, Khasif Ali, Vivek, Veerachamy Raja and Jitendra Saroha.
The Premier Division starts on Dec 17 and Tenaga Na sional, Maybank, Armed Forces and UiTM will rely solely on local talent.
Meanwhile, Bukit Jalil Sports School will be out to make amends for their 2-0 defeat to Armed Forces Juniors in Division One of the MHL when they play Universiti Sains Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur today.
DIVISION ONE -- Today: Ipoh City Council v Malacca City Council (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), Bukit Jalil SS v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Pantai Stadium, 5pm), Bandar Penawar SS v UniTen (BPSS pitch, 5pm).
BUKIT JALIL Sports School were sent reeling when Armed Forces Juniors beat them 2-1 in the curtain raiser of the Malaysia Hockey League Division One match at the Ministry of Education Stadium in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
And even BJSS coach S. Prakash could not believe the poor performance dished out by his charges, who could have easily sealed the three points after taking the lead.
BJSS' stuttering start was salvaged when G. Kavin Kartik scored off the first penalty corner they rceived in the 19th minute, but after that, the schoolboys played only in patched.
Armed Forces were unlucky not to have ended up with a bigger winning margin, as they muffed plenty of opportunities in the second half.
Razali Hazemi snatched the equaliser off a field attempt in the 44th minute, while the winner was scored by Szuhairi Aziz in the 64th minute.
"This is surely not the school's standard, as my players can and have played at a higher level. I think they were a little nervous, and it showed when they had opportunities to seal the match after taking the lead, but muffed all," said BJSS coach S. Prakash.
Army coach Kamaruddin Misman was pleased with the victory, but did not expect the three points.
"We played with BJSS in three friendlies as warm-ups and all ended in draws (1-1, 2-2 and 3-3). So I we knew their style, and used it to our advantage. But still, it is a shocking win for us," said kamaruddin.
Malacca City Council also started with a win when they beat Universiti Sains Malaysia with the goal coming in the 33rd minute off a field attempt from Azrul Hairi.
In another match,Ipoh City Councildrew 1-1 with University Tenaga Nasional. Abbas Nekmat gave UniTen the lead in the seventh minute, but Hafiz Dolah equalised in the 67th minute off a penalty stroke.
The first day matches were marred by a red card flashed to Ipoh player Mohamed Rasyid in the 3oth minute for an off the ball incident.
RESULTS -- DIVISION ONE: Ipoh City Council 1 UniTen 1, Bukit Jalil SS 1 Armed Forces Jnr 2, Universiti Sains Malaysia 0 Malacca City Council 1.
TOMORROW: Ipoh City Council v Malacca City Council (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), Bukit Jalil SS v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Pantai Stadium, 5pm), Bandar Penawar SS v UniTen (BPSS pitch, 5pm).
DOUBLE FLICK: Amin Rahim (left) and Razie Rahim, will represent Tenaga and KLHC respectively in the MHL Premier Division.
