Contenders set to break free

By Ajitpal Singh

THE Premier Division of the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) resumes today after a two-week break with the top contenders hoping to consolidate their title aspirations.
All teams, except for last season's Division One champions UiTM and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL)-TRC, will play two matches each this weekend.
Sapura, after hammering ATM-Airod 7-2 in the opening match on Dec 18, are full of confidence and they hope to extend their winning ways against last year's league champions the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) in a crucial encounter today and Nur Insafi on Sunday.
Coach I. Vikneswaran expects his team to be even better prepared for both matches.
"We defeated ATM convincingly despite not having the entire team training as a unit before the match. Our foreign signings only arrived a day before and despite the shortcoming, we won easily," said Vikneswaran.
"I managed to get everyone in training during the two-week break. The understanding among the players has improved tremendously since the first match. I expect them to be better in both matches."
Among the aces in the Sapura side are Pakistan's Rehan Butt, South Korea's Lim Woo Guen, S. Kuhan and the Mohan brothers, Jiwa and Jivan.
Vikneswaran's confidence over the team's expected display this weekend is bad news for KLHC, who cannot afford to drop points after going down 2-0 to Tenaga Nasional in their opening match.
KLHC will face Yayasan Negri Sembilan (YNS) on Sunday, in their second match of the weekend.
Coach K. Dharmaraj said his team players have been working hard in training to brush up their tactics.
"I have told my players that they must play to win as dropping points this weekend is not an option.
"Although, the league is only one match old, the competition is stiff and we must start winning again," he said.
UniKL-TRC, who are also title contenders, face a tricky encounter against YNS today.
Coach Darren Smith said his team must not allow YNS to dictate the flow of the game as they are a strong side.
"We need to pay special attention to Shakeel Abbasi as he showed in the match against Maybank that he can do the damage.
"Then there is Waqas (Sharif) who can also create scoring chances with Prabhjot (Singh) very nippy on the left flank.
"I was impressed with Muhamad Imran as he is deadly in penalty corners. Overall it will be tough against YNS as from what I saw, they have the best team in the MHL so far.
"A good mixture of top Pakistani and Indian players are no easy team to play against," said Smith.
As for Maybank, their coach, Wallace Tan, hopes his team will get back to their winning ways after going down tamely to YNS (4-1) on Dec 18.
Maybank face TNB today and UiTM on Sunday.
"TNB are the favourites as they have a team of good mixture of experienced and junior players. Our defence must not give away penalty corners cheaply as they have drag flick expert Amin Rahim in their side.
"We have learnt a lot from our defeat to YNS and spent the last two weeks improving our tackling as well as working on set pieces," he added.

Where the money is

By S.S. Dhaliwal
(www.malaysianhockey.blogspot.com)

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation, at its Council meeting after the AGM on October 31, decided to retain Nur Azmi Ahmad, the victorious Deputy President who retained his post at the elections, at the Chairman of the National Team Management Committee.

And true to form, as the Deputy President who is well known for ability to twist the facts and business acumen, has since created one mess after another in MHF.

It is learned that the National Assistant Coach, Nor Saiful Zaini has returned the cash incentive that was given by the MHF to the players/officials of the team that won silver at the recent Asian Games. Saiful, it is believed received a token sum, no where near the sum the other two coaches in the team received. And we salute Saiful for his stand in not accepting the money.

To determine the amount, it was the Deputy President who was responsible, and given the fact that he is the Chairman, it is only fair that he clarifies as to why Saiful has returned the cheque to MHF on December 16, the day of the Press Conference of the Charity Shield.

Fair enough Saiful was not with the team in China, but it was Saiful who trained and toiled with the rest of the coaches in Malaysia. Was the amount given reflective of Saiful's contributions to the team?

And that is not the only time that the Deputy President attempted to play god, for the national players were also short changed upon their return from the tournament in France that they won in August.

For every win, the President of MHF had set an incentive bonus of RM1,000 per player, but the Deputy President and another key administrative official reduced it to RM500, and told the President that the tournament was not sanctioned. The issue of sanction was then dispelled when a team official pointed out that the tournament was in the FIH calendar. But the players eventually received on RM500 per win, no thanks to the Deputy President.

Next we have the issue of Tai Beng Hai, the assistant coach who saw a reduction of his salary when Stephen van Huizen was roped in. Though NSC, the paymasters could only afford a certain budhet, they told MHF that the national body could assist by topping up the salary.

An appeal was made by Beng Hai, but even after the Asian Games, he received no reply on the matter, despite the National Team Management Committee having supposedly met in September.

So is there such a committee to deliberate on the matters or is it left to the whim and fancy of the Deputy President? Perhaps its time for the MHF President to take stock of the situation.

Next: Who represented MHC at the FIH meetings and do they have locus standi?

Shakeel and Butt show

By Ajitpal Singh

SHAKEEL Abbasi and Rehan Butt, both Pakistan internationals, emerged as the stars in the opening weekend of the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL), despite having only limited practice with their teams.

Shakeel, who arrived a day before Yayasan Negri Sembilan's (YNS) opening match on Saturday, turned on a mesmerising display to help his team beat Maybank 4-1 while Rehan, who was named in the World XI recently, was the strength behind Sapura's impressive 7-2 victory over ATM-Airod.
The 28-year-old Shakeel, also the captain of YNS, said he could easily adapt with his team's style of play as there were many Pakistan and India players in the side.
"I hardly trained with the team as I only arrived a day before the match. I had a shaky start in the beginning but everything went well for me once I got into the groove," said Shakeel, who scored 125 goals in 320 appearances for Pakistan, yesterday.
"I had several offers from Europe this year but could not go as I was involved in the domestic league with SSGC. I chose to play in Kuala Lumpur as the Pakistan league has ended."
Shakeel said the exposure in the MHL will help him keep fit in-preparation for next year's Champions League and the 2012 London Olympics.
"We do not play much hockey in Pakistan during off-season. My short stint here will keep me focused and fit for the challenges ahead especially for international tournaments," said Shakeel, adding that he hopes to help YNS win the league and overall titles this season.
Rehan almost single-handedly tore open ATM's leaky defence to help his Sapura teammates poach goals on Saturday.
Sapura coach I. Vikneswaran said Rehan, together with the other foreign signings, hardly trained together prior to Saturday's match.
"Rehan had one full training session but some did not even have one. For instance, national player Jiwa Mohan only arrived a few hours before the match. And so winning the match is a good booster for the team," said Vikneswaran.
In another match on Saturday, Universiti Kuala Lumpur (Unikl) were made to slog before edging UiTM 3-2, courtesy of a hat-trick by Richard Patherick, a New Zealand international.
Coach Darren Smith said his boys made mistakes and did not follow the game plan.
"Some players tend to dribble instead of making simple passes. But these things will need time to correct and while I am glad with the win, I cannot say the same for the performance," said Smith.
The MHL restarts on Dec 31.

YNS on super start

By Ajitpal Singh

YAYASAN Negri Sembilan (YNS) made a winning start upon their return to the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) by defeating Maybank 4-1 in a Premier Division match at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.

YNS, who last played in the MHL in 1995 with 11 foreign players, including six from Pakistan, were in impeccable form despite lack of training among team members prior to the match.

Most of their foreign signings only reported to the club on Friday but it did not stop YNS from notching an impressive win over the Maybank side.
Muhammad Imran, a forward from Pakistan, scored a brace for YNS in the 16th and 44th minutes while Prabjot Singh (49th) and Muhd Waqas Sharif (68th) added the other goals.
Maybank replied through Mohamad Syafiq Mohamed Zain in the 30th minute.
Shakeel Abbasi, who arrived in KL on Friday, was YNS' best player with his creative display and the Pakistan international was duly rewarded with the Man-of-the-Match award in his very first match in the league.
"Although, we lacked practice, we knew we could win as we have a stable side. I played in midfield despite being a forward but I was comfortable with my new role with the club," said Shakeel, who helped Pakistan win the Asian Games gold medal in Guangzhou at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
"I believe my team have a good mix of experienced players to make an impact in this league. Our target is to finish in the top three bracket. I believe we can win it here."
In an earlier match, former champions Sapura overcame a slow start in the first half to demolish ATM-Airod 7-2 in their opening match.
Jiwa Mohan scored a brace for Sapura in the ninth and 49th minutes. Other goals were from former national captain S. Kuhan (42nd), Ahmad Kazamirul Nasruddin (53rd), Izwan Firdaus Ahmad Tajuddin (60th), Muhd Noor Khairul Adnan (67th) and Mohd Rodzhanizam Mat Radzi (68th).
ATM replied through Mohd Shahrul Amran (35th) and Mohd Shafiq Yaacob (54th).
Sapura coach I. Vikneswaran said victory for his team in the first match is a good sign for their campaign.
"Historically, Sapura are slow-starters. We rarely win our first match of the season in previous editions. And so earning three points today (yesterday) is a bonus," said Vikneswaran.

TNB retain TNB Cup

By Ajitpal Singh

TENAGA Nasional Berhad (TNB) retained their Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) Charity Shield title by defeating Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) 2-0 at the Tun Razak Stadium in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

It was a scrappy match as the heavy downpour since late afternoon made it difficult for both teams to produce a high quality performance on the soggy pitch.
TNB coach Nor Saiful Zaini hopes the victory would spur his players to regain the MHL title.
"It was a difficult match due to the rain but we won because my players kept their focus on their game," said Nor Saiful at the Tun Razak Stadium in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
"Although, we won today (yesterday), I am not too happy with my players' performance. But I am confident they will do better after a few matches."
TNB earned their first penalty corner of the match after 15 minutes but Amin Rahim's powerful trademark drag flick was brilliantly padded away by KLHC goalkeeper Kairulnizam Ibrahim.
Five minutes later, KLHC midfielder Shahrun Nabil Abdullah managed to dribble past several TNB defenders inside the semi-circle but his attempt was deflected off the stick of Amin.
KLHC, the last year's MHL champions, earned a penalty corner in the 30th minute but the attempt from Razie Abd Rahim sailed wide.
A foul in the semi-circle earned TNB their second penalty corner and Amin, this time, made no mistake by sounding the board with a low flick two minutes before halftime.
In the opening minutes of the second half, KLHC came charging into their opponents' half but were let down by poor passing.
In the 40th minute, KLHC forced a penalty corner but Razie again failed to convert by flicking the ball wide.
TNB forwards, led by Faizal Saari, were creating a lot of space for themselves in their opponents' half but couldn't find the opening.
However, they earned back-to-back penalty corners in the 49th minute but Amin failed to make it count.
KLHC pressed hard and had a couple of good chances to level proceedings but forwards Ismail Abu and Azlan Misron failed to capitalise on them..
In the 64th minute, KLHC's attempt from a penalty corner through Baljit Singh failed to beat goalkeeper S. Kumar.
TNB increased their lead through Faiz Helmi Jali, who latched onto a pass from Faizal, before sounding board past goalkeeper Khairulnizam in the 69th minute.