RESULTS --- March 10: Malaysia 5 Chile 1, Ireland 6 Russia 1, South Korea 8 Ukraine 2.
March 11: Malaysia 6 Russia 2, Ukraine 0 Ireland 12, South Korea 6 Chile 1.
March 13: Ukraine v Malaysia (9pm), Russia v Chile (11.30-m), Ireland v South Korea (2am).
March 15: Russia v Ukraine (9pm), Malaysia v South Korea (11.30pm), Chile v Ireland (2am).
March 17: South Korea v Russia (6pm), Chile v Ukraine (8.30pm), Ireland v Malaysia (11pm).
March 18: Final and placing matches.
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
IRELAND 2 2 0 0 18 1 6
S KOREA 2 2 0 0 14 3 6
MALAYSIA 2 2 0 0 11 3 6
CHILE 2 0 0 2 2 11 0
RUSSIA 1 0 0 1 1 6 0
UKRAINE 2 0 0 2 2 20 0
Monday, March 12, 2012
Amin the spark against Russia
MALAYSIA lived dangerously before Amin Rahim’s hat-trick saw them beat a robust Russia 6-2 in the Olympic Qualifiers at the University College Dublin grounds in Ireland yesterday.
The match followed a Bollywood movie script, as Malaysia received two sucker punches, before waking up to fight tooth-and-nail to win their second match of the Qualifier.
“I was warming the bench when Malaysia were down 2-0 to Russia, and when the coach finally told me to enter the pitch, I knew that I had to prove a point. It is nice the score the first hat-trick of the tournament and also find my form here. The team started slowly today (yesterday) but a pep-talk during the break did the trick,” said Amin Rahim.
Amin picked up a knee injury during the playing tour of Australia and that is why he is being used sparingly by coach Tai Beng Hai.
“I am about 98 per cent recovered from the knee injury, and should be fully ready when we play against South Korea and Ireland,” said Amin.
The sun was up in Dublin, but still, Malaysia took a long time to warm up to the match and paid the price when Russia hammered in two early goals.
The forwardline of Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Faizal Saari and Hafifi Hafiz failed to convert the chances that came their way, and in the 15th minute, Pavel Golubev gave Russia the lead from a close range shot.
In the Malaysian goal was Roslan Jamaluddin as first choice custodian S, Kumar was down with fever.
And two minutes later, Golubev was left alone by the defenders and he again sounded the board from close range.
The unthinkable had happened, as Russia are ranked No 20, while Malaysia are 13th in the world, but the higher ranked team were playing like novices.
Malaysia even bungled the first penalty corner when Razie Rahim flicked high but Russian goalkeeper Roman Rogov stopped it with ease.
Tengku Ahmad made up for his poor play thus far by winning the second penalty corner and it was duly tucked in by Amin Rahim in the 28th minute to give Malaysia a life-line for the remainder of the match.
The second half saw a more composed Malaysian side, and Amin Rahim was again on fire two minutes into the second half, as he scored the equaliser with a well placed penalty corner flick to Rogov's left.
That was the signal for Malaysia to push forward in numbers and in the 45th minute, off their fourth penalty corner, it was youngster Faizal Saari's turn to score and give his team the much needed lead.
Malaysia found their rhythm and it became much easier to score and this time, off their fifth penalty corner in the 52nd minute, Razie Rahim flicked home for a 4-2 lead.
And a super attack combination from Faizal Saari and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin saw Malaysia winning a penalty stroke when Tengku was pushed to the ground.
Amin Rahim stepped up to the spot, and cooly flicked in the fifth goal in the 54th minute.
Hafifi Hafiz then scored the sixth in the 65th, which was Malaysia’s only field goal of the match.
The match followed a Bollywood movie script, as Malaysia received two sucker punches, before waking up to fight tooth-and-nail to win their second match of the Qualifier.
“I was warming the bench when Malaysia were down 2-0 to Russia, and when the coach finally told me to enter the pitch, I knew that I had to prove a point. It is nice the score the first hat-trick of the tournament and also find my form here. The team started slowly today (yesterday) but a pep-talk during the break did the trick,” said Amin Rahim.
Amin picked up a knee injury during the playing tour of Australia and that is why he is being used sparingly by coach Tai Beng Hai.
“I am about 98 per cent recovered from the knee injury, and should be fully ready when we play against South Korea and Ireland,” said Amin.
The sun was up in Dublin, but still, Malaysia took a long time to warm up to the match and paid the price when Russia hammered in two early goals.
The forwardline of Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Faizal Saari and Hafifi Hafiz failed to convert the chances that came their way, and in the 15th minute, Pavel Golubev gave Russia the lead from a close range shot.
In the Malaysian goal was Roslan Jamaluddin as first choice custodian S, Kumar was down with fever.
And two minutes later, Golubev was left alone by the defenders and he again sounded the board from close range.
The unthinkable had happened, as Russia are ranked No 20, while Malaysia are 13th in the world, but the higher ranked team were playing like novices.
Malaysia even bungled the first penalty corner when Razie Rahim flicked high but Russian goalkeeper Roman Rogov stopped it with ease.
Tengku Ahmad made up for his poor play thus far by winning the second penalty corner and it was duly tucked in by Amin Rahim in the 28th minute to give Malaysia a life-line for the remainder of the match.
The second half saw a more composed Malaysian side, and Amin Rahim was again on fire two minutes into the second half, as he scored the equaliser with a well placed penalty corner flick to Rogov's left.
That was the signal for Malaysia to push forward in numbers and in the 45th minute, off their fourth penalty corner, it was youngster Faizal Saari's turn to score and give his team the much needed lead.
Malaysia found their rhythm and it became much easier to score and this time, off their fifth penalty corner in the 52nd minute, Razie Rahim flicked home for a 4-2 lead.
And a super attack combination from Faizal Saari and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin saw Malaysia winning a penalty stroke when Tengku was pushed to the ground.
Amin Rahim stepped up to the spot, and cooly flicked in the fifth goal in the 54th minute.
Hafifi Hafiz then scored the sixth in the 65th, which was Malaysia’s only field goal of the match.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Razie Rahim in a mean mood
PIC (By S.S. Dhaliwal) Razie Rahim (second from left) celebrates his first goal against Chile in the Dublin Olympic Qualifier. Malaysia won 5-1, with Razie scoring a brace.
No need to be fussy, AHF
HOCKEY is a minority sport in Ireland, as real men and women play rugby, and also hurling.
Nobody here, save for a small group of hockey enthusiasts, know that Ireland are hosting the Olympic Qualifiers at the University College Dublin in Belfield.
But everybody is excited about the rugby six-nations tournament, and are eagerly awaiting for the Ireland-Scotland match to start.
The scots have also arrived in droves and wearing their famous kilts, were already in a party mood as early as 8am yesterday before the big match at night.
It is also surprising to note that the tournament is being held at a venue that only has one pitch. There is no second pitch for training and warm-up proposes which the International Hockey Federation (FIH) always insists when Malaysia bid to host international events.
The players dressing room is also a good five minutes walk away from the stadium, while the media centre is not facing the pitch, but a rock-climbing wall deep inside the UCD sports complex.
Back home, the Asian Hockey Confederation (AHF) are threatening to pull out the Junior Asia Cup, in Malacca from May 3-13, as they say the facilities at the Bukit Serindit Stadium are not good enough.
The Junior Asia Cup also doubles up as a qualifier for the 2013 Junior World Cup in New Delhi.
The Serindit stadium has two beautiful pitches, but still, the AHF insists that a grandstand roof must be put up, and two more dressing rooms and a media room be added.
AHF president Sultan Azlan Shah will be down in Dublin to watch the Qualifiers, and maybe, he should take an inspection of the UCD pitch and the facilities here before setting standards for AHF and also future FIH tournaments in Malaysia.
Nobody here, save for a small group of hockey enthusiasts, know that Ireland are hosting the Olympic Qualifiers at the University College Dublin in Belfield.
But everybody is excited about the rugby six-nations tournament, and are eagerly awaiting for the Ireland-Scotland match to start.
The scots have also arrived in droves and wearing their famous kilts, were already in a party mood as early as 8am yesterday before the big match at night.
It is also surprising to note that the tournament is being held at a venue that only has one pitch. There is no second pitch for training and warm-up proposes which the International Hockey Federation (FIH) always insists when Malaysia bid to host international events.
The players dressing room is also a good five minutes walk away from the stadium, while the media centre is not facing the pitch, but a rock-climbing wall deep inside the UCD sports complex.
Back home, the Asian Hockey Confederation (AHF) are threatening to pull out the Junior Asia Cup, in Malacca from May 3-13, as they say the facilities at the Bukit Serindit Stadium are not good enough.
The Junior Asia Cup also doubles up as a qualifier for the 2013 Junior World Cup in New Delhi.
The Serindit stadium has two beautiful pitches, but still, the AHF insists that a grandstand roof must be put up, and two more dressing rooms and a media room be added.
AHF president Sultan Azlan Shah will be down in Dublin to watch the Qualifiers, and maybe, he should take an inspection of the UCD pitch and the facilities here before setting standards for AHF and also future FIH tournaments in Malaysia.
A jittery 5-1 win against Chile
By Jugjet Singh in Dublin
Malaysia 5 Chile 1
Ireland 6 Russia 1
South Korea 8 Ukraine 2
THE national players overcame a jittery start to whip Chile 5-1 in their opening encounter of the Olympic Qualifiers at the University College Dublin grounds in Belfield yesterday.
It was a big boost for their next encounter against Russia today, where another win is expected from Tai Beng Hai's men.
However, Malaysia were a nervous wreck for 35 minutes, as they missed three penalty corners and two sitters to be held to a 1-1 draw going into the breather.
The expected early goals did not come, instead there were plenty of cards for the Malaysian players as Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Faizal Saari and Shahrun Nabil all picked up green cards which saw them sit out for two minutes.
And then there was the yellow card to Baljit, which saw Malaysia playing with 10-men in the dying minutes of the first half.
Malaysia took the lead off their second penalty corner in the 17th minute when Razie Rahim made a direct attempt.
But Chile shocked the 60-odd Malaysian supporters at the UCD Stadium when they equalised off Jan Richter in the 20th minute.
The second half started on a more promising note as Malaysia won a penalty corner three minutes into the second half, and as promised Faizal sent the ball crashing into the net to re-take the lead.
Faizal had promised to score two goals against Chile a day before, and he delivered the first.
Chile were never in the match after that, and were just running around wildly and it was just a matter of time before Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin made a super cross which was connected home by Hafifi Hafiz in the 49th minute and Malaysia were on their way to a winning start.
The match was sealed in the 50th minute, when Razie scored his second and Malaysia's fourth off a penalty corner attempt.
Malaysia's best flicker Amin Rahim sat on the bench for 60 minutes, but just as he came in for the first time against Chile, a penalty corner was won and Amin did not disappoint by flicking home the fifth goal in the 61st minute.
Malaysia 5 Chile 1
Ireland 6 Russia 1
South Korea 8 Ukraine 2
THE national players overcame a jittery start to whip Chile 5-1 in their opening encounter of the Olympic Qualifiers at the University College Dublin grounds in Belfield yesterday.
It was a big boost for their next encounter against Russia today, where another win is expected from Tai Beng Hai's men.
However, Malaysia were a nervous wreck for 35 minutes, as they missed three penalty corners and two sitters to be held to a 1-1 draw going into the breather.
The expected early goals did not come, instead there were plenty of cards for the Malaysian players as Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Faizal Saari and Shahrun Nabil all picked up green cards which saw them sit out for two minutes.
And then there was the yellow card to Baljit, which saw Malaysia playing with 10-men in the dying minutes of the first half.
Malaysia took the lead off their second penalty corner in the 17th minute when Razie Rahim made a direct attempt.
But Chile shocked the 60-odd Malaysian supporters at the UCD Stadium when they equalised off Jan Richter in the 20th minute.
The second half started on a more promising note as Malaysia won a penalty corner three minutes into the second half, and as promised Faizal sent the ball crashing into the net to re-take the lead.
Faizal had promised to score two goals against Chile a day before, and he delivered the first.
Chile were never in the match after that, and were just running around wildly and it was just a matter of time before Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin made a super cross which was connected home by Hafifi Hafiz in the 49th minute and Malaysia were on their way to a winning start.
The match was sealed in the 50th minute, when Razie scored his second and Malaysia's fourth off a penalty corner attempt.
Malaysia's best flicker Amin Rahim sat on the bench for 60 minutes, but just as he came in for the first time against Chile, a penalty corner was won and Amin did not disappoint by flicking home the fifth goal in the 61st minute.
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