YAYASAN Negri Sembilan (YNS) will know if they are championship material when they play Tenaga and Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) back-to-back this weekend.
YNS, who scraped past a fighting Nur Insafi 2-1 on Sunday, should have no problem beating UniKL tomorrow before their big weekend.
"My Pakistan players (six of them) were a little too eager to attack in the first half as they were playing to the style which was taught to them.
"However, I told them to slow down the pace in the second half, and we managed to beat Nur Insafi," said YNS coach K. Rajan.
With the opening weekend out of the way, Rajan is confident his team will be ready for Tenaga and KLHC.
"By then, I would have had enough time to train the foreign players to play as a team with the locals and be ready to give Tenaga and KLHC a tough time as we are looking to upset the form book this season."
Rajan, a former Tenaga and national juniors coach, feels the tournament is still open and the front runners must not take any team lightly.
"Nur Insafi were the whipping boys last season, but I believe they will trouble even KLHC and Tenaga as well as Sapura," said the experienced coach.
YNS were saved the blushes by their Pakistan penalty corner flicker Ihsan Ullah Khan, who scored both their goals off penalty corners.
"Ihsan is a former international and he has the power, and I need to work a little on the direction. I believe he will be an asset. When he was playing for Pakistan, he never got a chance to flick during penalty corners as Sohail (Abbas) was at his best then," said Rajan.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
DJ Jenny to go nude for India boyz
MUMBAI: Move over Poonam Pandey. DJ Jenny is here! Miffed at the apathetical treatment meted out to the sport of hockey and its national players, Mumbai-based DJ Jenny D has decided to auction her pictures from a nude photo-shoot and donate the proceeds to Rajpal Singh's Asian Champions Trophy conquerors.It all began when Hockey India announced a paltry sum of Rs 25,000 for each member of Indian team which beat Pakistan in the final in Ordos, China. "There were stories of our hockey players not being able to afford the right footwear before the final. The measly prize money was only adding insult to injury. Compare this to the way cricketers are treated. The injustice is there for all to see. It's a matter of serious concern," says Jenny.
The DJ, who is also a model and acts, will pose for the lenses in Mumbai on Saturday. She plans to conduct an online auction the following week. "A couple of portals have already approached me to buy the images. There's also an international men's magazine that has offered to pay me Rs 10 lakh for a nude cover shoot that would have just three hockey sticks in the frame," says the 24-year-old.
Comparisons with Poonam Pandey - who offered to pose in the buff if the Indian team won the World Cup - are bound to surface but Jenny doesn't think too much of it. "I have done photo shoots like this for causes like opposing the casting couch in the film industry and fighting for reservation for women, so this is not something that's inspired. Sensible people wouldn't associate me with Poonam Pandey," says Jenny, hinting at Pandey's delay in fulfilling her promise.
Aware that her method may cause a furore, Jenny says, "There are bound to be critics but when you come across injustice, you shouldn't consider detractors. People in India don't want to get out of that traditional shell. They forget we are in the 21st century."
The Times of India
Sunday, September 18, 2011
YNS edge Nur Insafi 2-1
YAYASAN Negri Sembilan (YNS) had to forfeit their nine lives before beating Nur Insafi 2-1 off their ninth penalty corner in the Premier Division of the TNB-Malaysia Hockey League yesterday.
YNS started off with a stroke of luck in the ninth minute when Nur Insafi Pakistan import Kashif Ali missed a penalty stroke, but lady luck deserted them in the 24th minute.
Local player Harris Fadila scored off a field attempt, and that was the most exciting action of the first half.
Nur Insafi and YNS have each registered six foreign players, but there seem to be a lack of understanding in their first League match.
For the record, YNS beat Nur Insafi 4-2 and 6-1 in the return leg last season.
The second half was a midfield affair, but YNS started attacking after 15 minutes into the match and won a string of penalty corners, but only got it right in their eighth attempt.
Pakistan import Ihsan Ullah Khan's 59th minute attempt pulled his team on level terms, and YNS started to attack more often as they went looking for the winner.
And they got it in the 69th minute, off their ninth penalty corner when Ullah struck again for full points.
Meanwhile, Sapura chalked up an unimpressive 4-0 win over a weak Armed Forces Airod.
Sapura fielded four national players but only Azreen Rizal delivered with a hat-trick (eigtht, 29th, 66th) and Sapura were let off the hook.
The other goal was scored by Joel Samuel van Huizen in the 69th minute.
The rest of their national players, and former players like S. Kuhan, Jiwa Mohan, Redzuan Ponirin, Robert Alcantra and Faizal Daud, were of little help to the team's cause.
"While I am happy with the win and the four goals, we were playing in patches and that is an area we need to work on. In reality this was the first time they played together as a team as many of my players had work commitment," said Sapura coach I.Vikneswaran.
In another Premier Division match, unfancied UiTM scared the daylights out of UniKL when their Oatar import Sherza Ali scored in the 12th minute, but Noor Faeez scored off their fifth penalty corner in the 59th minute to hand UniKL one important point.
UiTM yesterday fielded all their five Qatar imports Muhammad Rizwan, Sheraz Ali, Tariq Nazir, Sami Ullah and Sohail Mustafa.
RESULTS: Division One -- SSTMI-Thunderbolt 4 Uniten 2, Ipoh City Hall 0 BJSS 6.
Premier League: Armed Forces Airod 0 Sapura 4, Uitm 1 UniKL 1, Nur Insafi Penang 1 Yayasan Negri Sembilan 2.
WEDNESDAY: Premier Division -- Sapura v Maybank (6pm, Pitch I), UniKL v Yayasan NS (8pm, Pitch I), Kuala Lumpur HC v UiTM (6pm, Pitch II), Tenaga v Nur Insafi (8pm, Pitch II).
All matches at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
DIVISION ONE: SSTMI-Thunderbolt v UNIMAP (Ministry of Education, 5pm), BJSS v Uniten (Ministry of Education, 8pm).
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
SAPURA 1 1 0 0 4 0 3
KLHC 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
YAYASAN NS 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
UITM 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
UNIKL 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
TENAGA 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
NUR INSAFI 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
ATM AIROD 1 0 0 1 0 4 0
MAYBANK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pts
BJSS 2 1 1 0 7 1 4
THUNDERBOLT 1 1 0 0 4 2 3
UNIMAP 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
UNITEN 2 0 1 1 4 6 1
IPOH CH 2 0 1 1 2 8 1
YNS started off with a stroke of luck in the ninth minute when Nur Insafi Pakistan import Kashif Ali missed a penalty stroke, but lady luck deserted them in the 24th minute.
Local player Harris Fadila scored off a field attempt, and that was the most exciting action of the first half.
Nur Insafi and YNS have each registered six foreign players, but there seem to be a lack of understanding in their first League match.
For the record, YNS beat Nur Insafi 4-2 and 6-1 in the return leg last season.
The second half was a midfield affair, but YNS started attacking after 15 minutes into the match and won a string of penalty corners, but only got it right in their eighth attempt.
Pakistan import Ihsan Ullah Khan's 59th minute attempt pulled his team on level terms, and YNS started to attack more often as they went looking for the winner.
And they got it in the 69th minute, off their ninth penalty corner when Ullah struck again for full points.
Meanwhile, Sapura chalked up an unimpressive 4-0 win over a weak Armed Forces Airod.
Sapura fielded four national players but only Azreen Rizal delivered with a hat-trick (eigtht, 29th, 66th) and Sapura were let off the hook.
The other goal was scored by Joel Samuel van Huizen in the 69th minute.
The rest of their national players, and former players like S. Kuhan, Jiwa Mohan, Redzuan Ponirin, Robert Alcantra and Faizal Daud, were of little help to the team's cause.
"While I am happy with the win and the four goals, we were playing in patches and that is an area we need to work on. In reality this was the first time they played together as a team as many of my players had work commitment," said Sapura coach I.Vikneswaran.
In another Premier Division match, unfancied UiTM scared the daylights out of UniKL when their Oatar import Sherza Ali scored in the 12th minute, but Noor Faeez scored off their fifth penalty corner in the 59th minute to hand UniKL one important point.
UiTM yesterday fielded all their five Qatar imports Muhammad Rizwan, Sheraz Ali, Tariq Nazir, Sami Ullah and Sohail Mustafa.
RESULTS: Division One -- SSTMI-Thunderbolt 4 Uniten 2, Ipoh City Hall 0 BJSS 6.
Premier League: Armed Forces Airod 0 Sapura 4, Uitm 1 UniKL 1, Nur Insafi Penang 1 Yayasan Negri Sembilan 2.
WEDNESDAY: Premier Division -- Sapura v Maybank (6pm, Pitch I), UniKL v Yayasan NS (8pm, Pitch I), Kuala Lumpur HC v UiTM (6pm, Pitch II), Tenaga v Nur Insafi (8pm, Pitch II).
All matches at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
DIVISION ONE: SSTMI-Thunderbolt v UNIMAP (Ministry of Education, 5pm), BJSS v Uniten (Ministry of Education, 8pm).
STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION
P W D L F A Pts
SAPURA 1 1 0 0 4 0 3
KLHC 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
YAYASAN NS 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
UITM 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
UNIKL 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
TENAGA 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
NUR INSAFI 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
ATM AIROD 1 0 0 1 0 4 0
MAYBANK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DIVISION ONE
P W D L F A Pts
BJSS 2 1 1 0 7 1 4
THUNDERBOLT 1 1 0 0 4 2 3
UNIMAP 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
UNITEN 2 0 1 1 4 6 1
IPOH CH 2 0 1 1 2 8 1
AN UNCONVINCING WIN FOR SAPURA
Despite have five national players and a host of ex-internationals, Sapura struggled to register a 4-0 win over a resilient Armed Forces Airod at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil... READ MORE AT http://www.tnbmhl.com.my/
Saturday, September 17, 2011
KLHC snatch Charity Shield from Tenaga
KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) lifted their maiden Charity Shield when they edged Tenaga Nasional 2-1 in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) curtain raiser at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.
It was not much of a match, as there was hardly any excitement created by 18 national players, nine each in KLHC and Tenaga, and they looked more like they were still recovering from the Asian Champions Trophy bronze battle.
KLHC looked the better side in the first 10 minutes of the match, and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin finally gave them something to cheer with a deft reverse stick attempt.
The clock only showed nine minutes into the match, but Tengku's reverse stick shot went crashing into the net to beat Tenaga goalkeeper S. Kumar for the lead.
However, two consecutive Shield winners Tenaga did not look rattled but kept pushing for the equaliser and it came off a goalmouth melee in the 14th minute.
KLHC goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin stopped the first shot from Faizal Saari, but the rebound from Fariq Saadon went crashing into the board for the equaliser.
KLHC won the only penalty corner of the first half, but Radzi Rahim's low push was easily stopped and both teams went into the dressing room to plot the second half.
KLHC were again the better side after the breather, and won their second penalty corner but still, Razie's attempt was first stopped by an onrusing Baljit Singh while his second attempt was stopped by Kumar.
However, KLHC skipper Azlan Misron took matters into his own hands, and after receiving a pass in the 48th minute, his reverse stick grounder beat Roslan to put his team in the driving seat again.
That goal was enough to hand them three valuable points, and now they are the team to beat for the League title.
"We went in looking for three points, and got what we wanted and winning the Shield for the first time has also placed us in a good positing to defend our League title," said KLHC team manager George Koshy.
KLHC next play UiTM on Wednesday, and it would most likely be a goal fest for them.
RESULTS: Division One -- Uniten 2 Ipoh City Hall 2, BJSS 1 UNIMAP 1.
Premier League -- (Charity Shield): KL Hockey Club 2 Tenaga Nasional 1.
TODAY: Division One -- SSTMI-Thunderbolt v Uniten (Education Ministry, 5pm), Ipoh City Hall v BJSS (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm).
Premier League: Armed Forces Airod v Sapura (National Stadium, 4pm), Uitm v UniKL (National Stadium, 6pm), Nur Insafi Penang v Yayasan Negri Sembilan (National Stadium, 8pm).
It was not much of a match, as there was hardly any excitement created by 18 national players, nine each in KLHC and Tenaga, and they looked more like they were still recovering from the Asian Champions Trophy bronze battle.
KLHC looked the better side in the first 10 minutes of the match, and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin finally gave them something to cheer with a deft reverse stick attempt.
The clock only showed nine minutes into the match, but Tengku's reverse stick shot went crashing into the net to beat Tenaga goalkeeper S. Kumar for the lead.
However, two consecutive Shield winners Tenaga did not look rattled but kept pushing for the equaliser and it came off a goalmouth melee in the 14th minute.
KLHC goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin stopped the first shot from Faizal Saari, but the rebound from Fariq Saadon went crashing into the board for the equaliser.
KLHC won the only penalty corner of the first half, but Radzi Rahim's low push was easily stopped and both teams went into the dressing room to plot the second half.
KLHC were again the better side after the breather, and won their second penalty corner but still, Razie's attempt was first stopped by an onrusing Baljit Singh while his second attempt was stopped by Kumar.
However, KLHC skipper Azlan Misron took matters into his own hands, and after receiving a pass in the 48th minute, his reverse stick grounder beat Roslan to put his team in the driving seat again.
That goal was enough to hand them three valuable points, and now they are the team to beat for the League title.
"We went in looking for three points, and got what we wanted and winning the Shield for the first time has also placed us in a good positing to defend our League title," said KLHC team manager George Koshy.
KLHC next play UiTM on Wednesday, and it would most likely be a goal fest for them.
RESULTS: Division One -- Uniten 2 Ipoh City Hall 2, BJSS 1 UNIMAP 1.
Premier League -- (Charity Shield): KL Hockey Club 2 Tenaga Nasional 1.
TODAY: Division One -- SSTMI-Thunderbolt v Uniten (Education Ministry, 5pm), Ipoh City Hall v BJSS (Azlan Shah Stadium, 5pm).
Premier League: Armed Forces Airod v Sapura (National Stadium, 4pm), Uitm v UniKL (National Stadium, 6pm), Nur Insafi Penang v Yayasan Negri Sembilan (National Stadium, 8pm).
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