Jittery start for Pahang

PAHANG, with seven national players, could only edge Armed Forces 1-0 in Group B of the Fifth Raja Noora Ashikin Cup at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
It was a jittery start for the tournament favourites, and only a penalty corner goal from Siti Shahidah Saad in the 13th minute separated both the teams.
Perak and Singapore also had bad starts in in Group A and Group C respectively as they each blew a two-goal lead to share points.
Perak ended up with a 2-2 draw against Johor, while Singapore were held 2-2 by Selangor.
Perak opened scoring in the third minute through Nor Hidayah Ahmad Bokhari, and they doubled their advantage in the seventh minute through a goal from Khairunajwa Khairuddin.
But Johor closed the gap in the next minute when captain Nur Amirah perfected a penalty corner, and then they nailed the equalsier off Hanis Nadiah Onn in the 69th minute.
Singapore raced ahead with goals from Ming Fen O (seventh) and Xinni Chua (47th) only to see a Selangor’s Ellya Shahirah score a brace in the 51st and 68th minutes.
RESULTS: Group A -- Perak 2 Johor 2, Titiwangsa 1 Kedah 6; Group B: Penang 3 SMK Puteri 1, Pahang 1 Armed Forces 0; Group C: Singapore 2 Selangor 2; KL Sukma 1 Malacca 0.

Champions Challenge I Fixtures

Participating Teams

Pool A	Pool B
BEL	ARG
IND	CAN
POL	JPN
RSA	MAS

Pool Standings

Pool AMore

Team	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	GF	GA	GD	Points
POL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
RSA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BEL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
IND	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Pool BMore

Team	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	GF	GA	GD	Points
JPN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
ARG	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
MAS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CAN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Schedule and Results

#	Info	Time	Teams	Score	Status	Match Sheet
November 26th, 2011
1	Pool B	11:00am	CAN - MAS	-	Upcoming
2	Pool B	1:00pm	ARG - JPN	-	Upcoming
3	Pool A	3:00pm	IND - BEL	-	Upcoming
4	Pool A	5:00pm	RSA - POL	-	Upcoming
November 27th, 2011
5	Pool B	11:00am	ARG - CAN	-	Upcoming
6	Pool B	1:00pm	MAS - JPN	-	Upcoming
7	Pool A	3:00pm	BEL - POL	-	Upcoming
8	Pool A	5:00pm	RSA - IND	-	Upcoming
November 29th, 2011
9	Pool B	11:00am	CAN - JPN	-	Upcoming
10	Pool B	1:00pm	MAS - ARG	-	Upcoming
11	Pool A	3:00pm	IND - POL	-	Upcoming
12	Pool A	5:00pm	BEL - RSA	-	Upcoming
December 1st, 2011
13	Quarters	10:00am	1st Pool A - 4th Pool B	-	Upcoming
14	Quarters	12:30pm	2nd Pool B - 3rd Pool A	-	Upcoming
15	Quarters	3:00pm	2nd Pool A - 3rd Pool B	-	Upcoming
16	Quarters	5:30pm	1st Pool B - 4th Pool A	-	Upcoming
December 2nd, 2011
17	5/8	2:30pm	Loser #13 - Loser #14	-	Upcoming
18	5/8	5:00pm	Loser #15 - Loser #16	-	Upcoming
December 3rd, 2011
19	SF	1:30pm	Winner #13 - Winner #14	-	Upcoming
20	SF	4:00pm	Winner #15 - Winner #16	-	Upcoming
December 4th, 2011
21	7/8	9:00am	Loser #17 - Loser #18	-	Upcoming
22	5/6	11:30am	Winner #17 - Winner #18	-	Upcoming
23	3/4	2:00pm	Loser #19 - Loser #20	-	Upcoming
24	1/2	4:30pm	Winner #19 - Winner #20	-	Upcoming

Women's Cup returns after five years

Catch the Action at -- http://rnacup.blogspot.com/

THE Fifth Edition of the Raja Noora Ashikin Cup will return after five years in the wilderness, and will see a record 15 teams in action at the National Hockey Stadium at Bukit Jalil from Sunday.
The women’s teams have been divided into three groups with the top teams of in each group advancing to the semi-finals.
The fourth semi-finalists will be picked from the best among the three second placed teams. This system was in introduced to make sure that teams take every match seriously.
The RNA Cup made its debut in 2000 and was held in 2003, 2005 and 2006 and will mark a return after a five year hiatus.
Singapore are the invited team, while the team to beat would be Pahang as they have seven national players. Perak and Johor also have strong sides.
The tournament used to offer prize money in the past: “We are looking into providing grants to the winning teams instead of prize money,” said Malaysian Hockey Confederation Deputy President Puan Sri Noorashikin Raja Abdullah.
“With so many teams in this edition, it will provide coaches a an opportunity to gauge the performance of the current national players as well as be on the lookout for emerging talent.”
The national women’s team are scheduled to play in the Sea Cup in December in Thailand, but the tournament still remains an uncertainty as the Asian Hockey Federation is currently monitoring the flood situation there.
The tournament will also give the women an added avenue to prepare for the 2012 London Olympics Qualifier on April 25-may 6, as they have been placed with hosts Japan, Azerbaijan, Chile, Belarus and Trinidad & Tobago.
RNA CUP -- Goup A: Perak, Johor, B. Titiwangsa, Kedah, Police; Group B: Penang, SMK Puteri, Armed Forces, Pahang, Terengganu; Group C: Selangor, Singapore, KL Sukma, Malacca, Setia Cougar.

Easy to fix quarter-final opponent

CHAMPIONS CHALLENGE 1 MOCKERY...
Fact 1: Eight teams in two groups of four each, but FIH approve a fixture with Quarter-finals.
Fact 2: Malaysia can afford to lose to Argentina, Japan and Canada in Group B but will still play in Quarter-finals.
Fact 3: The trick to the semi-finals is to choose and pick your Quarter-finals opponents, and if need be, drop a match or two in the Group stages, so that the crossover in the Quarter-finals will see your team play against a weaker opponent.
Fact 4: Group matches have been turned into warm-ups and teams will not play all out, to avoid injury and cards. If I was the Malaysian coach, I will rest some key players in the three Group matches to expose my substitutes.

AZLAN Misron returns to the fold, as coach Tai Beng Hai named his players to finish among the top-five in the Champions Challenge I in Johannesburg, South Africa on Nov 26-Dec 4.
Malaysia are in Group B with Argentina, Japan and Canada. In Group A are Poland, South Africa, Belgim and India.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) have made the pool matches into a mockery, after they drew a quarter-finals fixture in an eight-team tournament.
It means, even if Malaysia lose all three matches against Argentina, Canada and Japan; they will still play in the quarter-finals.
And one win in the quarters will see them play in the semi-finals, and achieve their top-five target.
Azlan, a former skipper and 28-years-old, was left out of the Asian Champions Trophy in Ordos because a drop in form, but he fought back his spot in the national team after a good show in the Malaysia Hockey League.
Hafifi Hafiz Hanafi, who opted out of Ordos for personal reason, is also back.
The youngest player in Beng Hai's squad is 18-year-old Firhan Ashaari, who will receive a great exposure ahead of the Junior World Cup Qualifier in Malacca in May.
The other players eligible to play in the Junior Asia Cup is 20-year-old Faizal Saari.
Both the players were spared from playing in the Sultan Of Johor Cup, because the coach was afraid they would suffer from fatique.
MALAYSIA: S. Kumar (gk), Roslan Jamaluddin (gk), Izzat Rahim, Azammi Adabi, Amin Rahim, Marhan Jalil, Izwan Firdaus, Madzli Ikmar, Faizal Saari, Shahrun Nabil, Sukri Mutalib, Firhan Ashari, Azlan Misron, Razie Rahim (Capt), Hafifi Hafiz Hanafi, Baljit Singh, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Azreen Rizal.
Coach: Tai Beng Hai; Team Manager: George Koshy.

Malaysia have Korea for company

ITS official, Malaysia will play in Dublin, Ireland, for a ticket to the London Olympics and South Korea are the only higher ranked team in the group.
The Qualifier, to be held on March 11-18, will only offer one ticket to London, so Malaysia (ranked 14th) must beat world No 6 Korea, Ireland (17th), Russia (20th), Chile (24th) and Ukraine (31st).
The other men's Qualifiers will be held in India on Feb 15-26 and Japan on April 25-May 6.
India, ranked 10th, will have Canada (11th), France (18th), Poland (19th), Egypt (25th) and United States (26th).
While in Japan, ranked (15th), the other teams are Spain (four), China (16th), Austria (21st), Czech Republic (23rd) and Cuba (39th).
The Malaysian women's team (ranked 23rd), will play in the Japan Qualifier with the hosts (ninth), Azerbaijan (15th), Chile (17th), Belarus (22nd) and Trinidad & Tobago (35th).
The grouping was announced yesterday after the International Hockey Federation (FIH) held their Executive Board meeting in Lausanne over the weekend.
On the men’s side, the teams that are already qualified for the 2012 Games are Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa.
Nationl chief coach Tai Beng Hai said the Malaysian group will see a tough fight between Malaysia, Korea and Ireland for the single spot.
"But having said that, we must not be overly confident against the other lower ranked teams in our group, as all of them are also capable of playing good hockey.
"I believe at this stage, it does not matter which group we are in, but making the best of what we have in Dublin and since there is only one ticket, we will fight for it till the end," said Beng Hai.
Malaysia drew 2-2 with South Korea in the Group stages of the Asian Games, and are no longer pushovers.
"Our players have shown that they no longer fear playing the Koreans and this is a plus sign that must be duplicated in Dublin," said Beng Hai.
The Azlan Shah Cup will most probably held in February next year, and it will be the final tune-up before the biggest test for Beng Hai's charges in Dublin.