KLHC break free

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) survived by the
skin-of-their-teeth to start their breakaway journey
in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey
League at the Kuantan Stadium yesterday.
KLHC took a 2-0 lead, but they allowed UniKL to
crawl back into the match but eventually won 3-2 to
take a five point lead midway in the League.
And in another match, Sapura indicated that they
have reached a turning point when they beat
Tenaga Nasional 2-0.
However, KLHC look set to consolidate their lead
when they play bottom-of-the-table whipping boys
UITM today at the same venue.
"We almost paid the price for being complacent
after taking a 2-0 lead. It almost turned out to be a
disaster as we allowed UniKL to draw level but I am
happy that we walked away with three points in
this crucial encounter," said KLHC coach K.
Dharmaraj.
KLHC took the lead off Mohamed Noor Faeez off a
field attempt in the fourth minute, but were made to
struggle until the 32nd minute before increasing the
lead off Baljit Singh's penalty corner attempt.
However, UniKL fought back with goals from
Ramadan Rosli in the 51st minute, and Syamim
Yusof in the 59th minute.
Razie Rahim, a national penalty corner flicker,
saved the day for KLHC when he flicked in a crucial
goal in the 66th minute.
Sapura, who were struggling initially in the
League, found their footing against Charity Shield
holders Tenaga Nasional but coach I. Vickneswaran
is not ready to read too much into this game.
"Yes, we started off in a stutter and are now on an
upward trend, but KLHC are too far ahead to chase.
"We will continue playing our game and not be too
focussed on chasing the leaders at this stage.
"Hopefully, the good vibes will continue, and we
will see where it leads," said Vickneswaran.
Sapura dominated the match but could only open
scoring in the 57th minute of Izwan Firdaus' field
attempt, while Rodhanizam Radzi slammed in the
second in the 60th minute.
Tenaga looked like they lost their script as
national player, and a crucial keg in defense, Madzli
Ikmar had to give the match a miss as his wife went
into labour yesterday.

STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pt
KLHC 9 7 1 1 41 14 22
YNS 9 6 0 3 32 21 18
UNIKL-TRC 9 5 2 2 16 13 17
TNB 9 5 1 3 16 10 16
SAPURA 9 5 0 4 27 19 15
NUR INSAFI 9 4 1 4 16 25 13
MAYBANK 8 1 3 4 6 12 6
ATM-AIROD 8 2 0 6 9 27 6
UITM 8 0 0 8 11 33 0

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 6 5 1 0 15 3 16
BPSS 6 4 0 2 12 10 12
BJSS 6 4 0 2 14 6 12
MALACCA CC 7 3 0 4 10 9 9
IPOH CH 7 2 2 3 12 15 8
USM 6 2 0 4 8 17 6
UNITEN 6 0 1 5 3 14 1

PREMIER DIVISION: RESULTS: Tenaga Nasional 0
Sapura 2, Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club 3 UniKL 2,
Yayasan Negri Sembilan 6 Nur Insafi 1, Armed
Forces-Airod x UiTM x.
TOMORROW: (All Matches at the Kuantan Stadium):
Maybank v UniKL (3pm), Tenaga Nasional v Nur
Insafi (4.45pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v UiTM
(6.30pm), Yayasan Negri Sembilan v Armed
Forces-Airod (8.15pm).
DIVISION ONE: Sunday -- Ipoh City Council v Bukit
Jalil Sports School (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm),
Bandar Penawar Sports School v Malacca CC
(Bandar Penawar, 5pm), Armed Forces Juniors v
Universiti Sains Malaysia (Tun Razak Stadium, 5pm).

Heat is on in Kuantan, JB doubtful

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club will be looking for a clean break from the chasing pack when they play UniKL in the Premier Division of the Malaysia hockey League at the Kuantan Stadium today.
KLHC are just two points away from second placed UniKL, and look good to snatch full points judging from the first round 4-0 drubbing they handed the university side.
And the next day, KLHC will play UITM, whom they whipped 1-0 in the first round.
“The League will being its second round journey, and I have told my players to forget the earlier encounters. We did beat UniKL and UITM with healthy margins in the first round, but will not take matters for granted in Kuantan,” said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
KLHC will be fielding their full side after five matches, as Nabil Fiqri Mohd Noor has served his five-match suspension for his involvement in a shoving match with Yayasan Negri Sembilan players.
“UniKL have improved much since we beat them, and that us why it is important that my players give their best tomorrow (today) and after that, we will not be looking for goals but just three more points from UITM.
“Nabil will be back after five matches, and our injury list is also clean, as all of them have recovered and will play in Kuantan,” said Dharmaraj.
While KLHC are almost assured of maximum points, third placed Tenaga Nasional will have their hands full against Sapura are could drift further down the standings if they keep up with their erratic form which saw them lost 1-0 to Yayasan Negri Sembilan last weekend in Penang.
Meanwhile the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru, which is supposed to host the MHL teams on Feb 18 and 19, have been hit by electrical problems to their floodlights.
The Stadium, which was hosted for the 2009 Junior World Cup, is hardly 18-months old, but switchboards are said to have been stolen.
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) will seek answers from the Johor HA during their council meeting in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow, and if the problem can’t be fixed, the Johor round will be held at the Tun Razak Stadium instead.


STANDINGS

PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pt
KLHC 8 6 1 1 38 12 19
UNIKL-TRC 8 5 2 1 14 10 17
TNB 8 5 1 2 16 8 16
YNS 8 5 0 3 26 20 15
NUR INSAFI 8 4 1 3 15 19 13
SAPURA 8 4 0 4 25 19 12
MAYBANK 8 1 3 4 6 12 6
ATM-AIROD 8 2 0 6 9 27 6
UITM 8 0 0 8 11 33 0

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 6 5 1 0 15 3 16
BPSS 6 4 0 2 12 10 12
BJSS 6 4 0 2 14 6 12
MALACCA CC 7 3 0 4 10 9 9
IPOH CH 7 2 2 3 12 15 8
USM 6 2 0 4 8 17 6
UNITEN 6 0 1 5 3 14 1

PREMIER DIVISION: Today (All Matches at the Kuantan Stadium): Tenaga Nasional v Sapura (3.30pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v UniKL (5.51pm), Yayasan Negri Sembilan v Nur Insafi (7pm), Armed Forces-Airod v UiTM (8.45pm).
Tomorrow: Maybank v UniKL (3pm), Tenaga Nasional v Nur Insafi (4.45pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v UiTM (6.30pm), Yayasan Negri Sembilan v Armed Forces-Airod (8.15pm).
DIVISION ONE: Sunday -- Ipoh City Council v Bukit Jalil Sports School (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), Bandar Penawar Sports School v Malacca CC (Bandar Penawar, 5pm), Armed Forces Juniors v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Tun Razak Stadium, 5pm).

As erratic as it can get

THE Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division teams are so erratic, that it is hard to predict the champion even at its half-way stage.
Even seasoned MHL coach K. Rajan, formerly with the Tenaga Nasional outfit, is confused as outstation matches in Ipoh and Penang has produced some stunning upsets.
Rajan, now coaching Armed Forces-Airod, feels they still have a chance of playing in the quarter-finals, even though they are second from the bottom after eight matches.
“I was a little surprised with Maybank when they held leaders KLHC (Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club) to a 2-2 draw, but then lost to my team (1-0) the next day.
“When they matches were held in Kuala Lumpur, the results were easily predictable, but the change in venues has seen some teams struggling to cope.
“But in the same breath, I can see some drastic changes in my players after they played eight matches. There is more confidence in them, and I hope the win against Maybank will change our fortunes in the second round,” said Rajan.
The first weekend of the second round will be played in Kuantan, and teams who can’t adapt to the artificial pitch there are going to collapse again.
The top-six teams in Premier Division, and the top two teams in Division One will play in the quarter-finals.
“Ending fifth or sixth is still within our reach, and that will be our target from now,” said Rajan.
As for the overall standard of the League the established coach said: “Same old faces are playing for their clubs, but there is some fresh talent rising from the ranks of the Project 2013 players. Otherwise, our future generation of players are getting their exposure in Division One.”

STANDINGS

PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pt
KLHC 8 6 1 1 38 12 19
UNIKL-TRC 8 5 2 1 14 10 17
TNB 8 5 1 2 16 8 16
YNS 8 5 0 3 26 20 15
NUR INSAFI 8 4 1 3 15 19 13
SAPURA 8 4 0 4 25 19 12
MAYBANK 8 1 3 4 6 12 6
ATM-AIROD 8 2 0 6 9 27 6
UITM 8 0 0 8 11 33 0

DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 6 5 1 0 15 3 16
BPSS 6 4 0 2 12 10 12
BJSS 6 4 0 2 14 6 12
MALACCA CC 7 3 0 4 10 9 9
IPOH CH 7 2 2 3 12 15 8
USM 6 2 0 4 8 17 6
UNITEN 6 0 1 5 3 14 1

PREMIER DIVISION: Friday (All Matches at the Kuantan Stadium): Tenaga Nasional v Sapura (3.30pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v UniKL (5.51pm), Yayasan Negri Sembilan v Nur Insafi (7pm), Armed Forces-Airod v UiTM (8.45pm).
Saturday: Maybank v UniKL (3pm), Tenaga Nasional v Nur Insafi (4.45pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v UiTM (6.30pm), Yayasan Negri Sembilan v Armed Forces-Airod (8.15pm).
DIVISION ONE: Sunday -- Ipoh City Council v Bukit Jalil Sports School (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), Bandar Penawar Sports School v Malacca CC (Bandar Penawar, 5pm), Armed Forces Juniors v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Tun Razak Stadium, 5pm).

AHF, Kumar invincible to parent bodies

COMMENT
By Jugjet Singh

THE International Hockey Federation (FIH) does not give a hoot about the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF), and likewise the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) harbours the same feeling for award winning goalkeeper S. Kumar.
There seems to be a total lack of communication between Asia and the parent body, as even the election of AHF office bearers on Jan 15 has failed to surface on www.fihockey.org to date.
In fact, even on the AHF website, www.asiahockey.org, there is only a passing mention of the elections, while a check of the ‘Office Bearers’ icon on the website still has the names of the old council.
So much for trying to promote hockey among the masses.
Kumar’s story is another bungle which can only be described as “shameful”.
The keeper was named he Best Player in Asia during the AHF Congress and received his award with much pomp and pageantry, but he is a little confused about the lack of information, and the silence of MHF and his home state Negri Sembilan.
Firstly, he did not know he had won the award but when informed by journalists a day earlier, he was completely bewildered and thanked the journalists because he was about to head home to Tampin as there was a break for his team in the Malaysia Hockey League.
And after collecting his award, Kumarnever so much as received an SMS or a call from anybody in MHF. Even Negri Sembilan hockey officials did not bother to congratulate him.
Kumar, a product of Tunku Besar Secondary School in Tampin, Negri Sembilan, is among the best goalkeepers in the world and his uncompromising work between the posts has many a time saved Malaysia the blushes.
He has also been named as an Asian All-Star Player, together with teammates Razie Rahim and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, which is another feather in his cap.
The official information highway on the worldwide web is also silent on the tournaments being played in Malaysia and Asia as, even the recent Asian Games results could not be found on the AHF site.
MHF also does not have a vehicle to publish results on the ongoing Malaysia Hockey League and those who are hungry for information have to rely on an unofficial site (www.tnbmhl.com.my), and a blog.
Asia were robbed blind when FIH gave Oceania, who only have Australia and New Zealand as serious hockey nations, two spots in the Olympics, while Asia was only given one in the Asian Games even though South Korea, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan and China are die-hard supporters of the sport and are credibly ranked in the world.
So, it is plain for even the blind to see that AHF and its members’ contribution is second class in the eyes of the FIH, and Kumar is also a non-entity for his parent-body.

BJSS recover from hangover

BUKIT Jalil Sports School (BJSS) made a remarkable recovery when they whipped Bandar Penawar Sports School 4-1 in Division One of the Malaysia Hockey League yes terday.
Both the Sports Schools had played on Friday, but BJSS were beaten 2-0 by BPSS in Kuala Lumpur, but the return match in Bandar Penawar was a total opposite.
And with league leaders Armed Forces Juniors dropping two points against Ipoh City Council in a 0-0 encounter, BJSS and BPSS have a better chance of playing catch-up in the return leg matches.
Faridzul Afiq scored in the first minute itself to rattle BPSS, and Dangerous Lee made it 2-0 with a 28th minute penalty corner attempt.
Shahril Saabah injected some hope into the BPSS game when he narrowed the gap with a 32nd minute field goal, but Dangerous made it 3-1 in the 37th minute while Farid Zuki scored in the 59th minute to give BJSS a comfortable win.
BJSS coach S. Prakash, who had benched five of his players for disciplinary problems, attributed the win to mental strength.
“The suspended players were fielded on Friday but we still lost 2-0 to BJSS because my players gave them too much of respect.
“I have been motivating the boys since, and today (yes terday) they played to their true potential, and I attribute the win to their mental strength,” said Prakash.
BPSS coach Wan Roslan Rahman was amazed with the transformation of his rivals.
“This was a totally different side from the one which we played on Friday. They were very confident with the ball, and the first minute goal also played a big part in our defeat,” said Roslan.


STANDINGS
DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pt
ATM JNR 6 5 1 0 15 3 16
BPSS 6 4 0 2 12 10 12
BJSS 6 4 0 2 14 6 12
MALACCA CC 7 3 0 4 10 9 9
IPOH CH 7 2 2 3 12 15 8
USM 6 2 0 4 8 17 6
UNITEN 6 0 1 5 3 14 1

DIVISION ONE: RESULTS -- Armed Forces Juniors 0 Ipoh CH 0, Bandar Penawar Sports 1 Bukit Jalil Sports School 4, Malacca CC 2 UniTen 1.


PREMIER DIVISION: Friday (All Matches at the Kuantan Stadium): Tenaga Nasional v Sapura (3.30pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v UniKL (5.51pm), Yayasan Negri Sembilan v Nur Insafi (7pm), Armed Forces-Airod v UiTM (8.45pm).
Saturday: Maybank v UniKL (3pm), Tenaga Nasional v Nur Insafi (4.45pm), Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v UiTM (6.30pm), Yayasan Negri Sembilan v Armed Forces-Airod (8.15pm).
DIVISION ONE: Sunday -- Ipoh City Council v Bukit Jalil Sports School (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm), Bandar Penawar Sports School v Malacca CC (Bandar Penawar, 5pm), Armed Forces Juniors v Universiti Sains Malaysia (Tun Razak Stadium, 5pm).