Double cheer for Terengganu

TERENGGANU'S men's side notched an upset 4-3 win on penalties over defending champions Federal Territories after the match was tied at 3-3 at the end of regulation time to see the state bag both men's and women's gold medal in the Malaysia Games hockey competition yesterday.
    Both sides started the match nervously but it was Terengganu who were first to threaten at the Wisma Belia Stadium in Kuantan. Driven by on-form brothers Faizal and Fitri Saari, Terengganu came close to scoring through a penalty corner in the 20th minute which saw Fitri's powerful drive barely deflected wide by FT goalkeeper Shahril Azaddin Auskarzie.
    Faizal, however, opened the scoring in the 28th minute through a well-taken penalty corner and could have added to his sides tally only two minutes later when he had already beaten Shahril Azaddin, but an acute angle saw his shot sail over the crossbar.
    Terengganu seemed on track for a one-sided victory when another penalty corner, awarded to the east coast side, saw Faizal slam his second goal of the match into the roof of the net in the 45th minute .
   FT, however, managed to reduce the deficit three minutes later when Mohd Noor Faeez Ibrahim scored his side's first goal through a penalty corner, only for Faizal to notch his third of the game through another penalty corner in the 51st minute.
   The defending champions again scored off a penalty corner, this time through Ramadhan Rosli in the 55th minute and ten minutes later found the equaliser to put the match at 3-3 when Mohd Noor Faeez again scored from a penalty corner. The match then went into extra time and subsequently forced a penalty shoot-out.
    Faizal missed Terengganu's opening penalty stroke, however, and misses from FT's Ramadhan and Mohd Syamim Mohd Yusof in their last two attempts saw Mohd Zahirul Faiz Ashari score the winning penalty to seal a 4-3 win for Terengganu.
    Terengganu coach Nik Rozemi Nik Mohamed said he was delighted with his players' performances which saw them win their first ever Malaysia Games gold medal in the men's competition.
    "I am absolutely delighted with my boys today (yesterday) as they had played to instructions very well to help us win the title for a first time," said Nik Rozemi.
    Meanwhile, Penang gained some form of consolation after barely losing to Terengganu in extra-time in the semi-finals on Saturday when they beat Johor 6-3 to clinch the bronze in the third and fourth placing playoff.
    The women's final, also between FT and Terengganu, saw the latter clinch the gold for the first time in 20 years.
   Terengganu emerged 1-0 victors in the match which saw Rashidah Mahmad's 18th minute goal being the only difference between the teams.
   Selangor clinched the bronze medal after they beat Johor 3-2 in the playoff yesterday.
    RESULTS -- Men's final: Terengganu 3 Federal Territories 3 (Terengganu win 4-3 on penalties); Bronze medal playoff: Penang 6 Johor 3;
   Women's final: Terengganu 1 Federal Territories 0; Bronze medal playoff: Selangor 3 Johor 2.

In the Spotlight.... Korea Women

'In the Spotlight' is a series that will profile each of the 24 participating teams at the London Olympic Games. It will provide a glimpse of what to expect as each squad begins its London quest. Between now and the Olympic opening ceremony a new team will be featured every 2-3 days. Today we feature the women's national team from Korea.

The Basics:
Ranked eighth in the FIH World Rankings, Korea’s women are currently on 1423 points and the second highest rated Asian side in the competition after China. Two silver medals are their standout performances, reaching the final in their maiden participation in 1988 on home turf in Seoul. They repeated the trick in Atlanta in 1996 after a fourth place finish in Barcelona. They finished sixth in the 2010 World Cup in Rosario while a seventh place finish in this year’s Champion’s Trophy in January is their most recent world level showing.
 
The Road to London:
Qualification was achieved with a silver medal at the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010. The vital result proved to be their 2-0 win over Japan in the seventh round of preliminary group games, Kim Jong-Eun scoring both the goals in the second half. It secured their Olympic berth. China took the other Olympic berth and duly won the continental title ahead of Korea in dramatic fashion on penalty strokes.

Players to Watch:
Kim Da Rae was one of their stars in 2011, producing a number of star turns in midfield to earn her place in the FIH women’s All-Stars selection. Kim Jong Eun is their key striker while Park Seon Mi is a wily campaigner up front, too, but suffered an ankle injury in the Olympic test event which she will hope will be fully shaken off come Games’ time. Lee Seon Ok is the defensive rock, captaining the side from back.

Coach:
The experienced Lim Heung Sin returned to the job after coaching Korea’s youngsters to bronze in the 2009 BDO Junior World Cup with a 2-1 victory over England. He previously was in charge at the 2002 World Cup where the team finished sixth and the 2004 Olympics, ending seventh. The 2010 World Cup saw his side claim sixth place. He goes into the competition with confidence that his team can upset their world ranking and make it to the semi-finals, saying that it is a strong possibility when speaking about the group phases to the Korean Times: “I do not think it is a tough draw. In order to reach the semifinals, we should beat China, Japan and Belgium and either Britain or the Netherlands”. Beyond that, he does not believe overall success is out of the question: “A gold medal will elevate the image of field hockey and the sport can become more widely known and retain a decent pool of talent.”

Strengths:
Speed is their calling card, especially on the counter-attack while they play a very disciplined game. Confidence is also growing having won a Four Nations title in Cordoba ahead of world champions Argentina, Great Britain and New Zealand. Recent results have also seen them marginally better their world ranking of eight as they seek to bounce back after a couple of lean years, notably finishing fourth in the 2011 Champions Trophy. The 2012 Champions Trophy, meanwhile, showed their never say die attitude as they came from 3-0 down to tie with China in their playoff game and won on penalties to gain revenge for their Asian Games loss by the same method.

Weaknesses
Korea’s propensity to draw could throw a major spanner in the works for their ambitions of reaching the final four and also in playoff games. It worked in their favour in 2011’s Champions Trophy, managing to reach the final four despite winning just one of six matches but it regularly leaves them open to penalty shoot-out or extra-time defeats. In enlarged tournament formats, it has already cost them dear as ties against Spain and England – had they seen those ties out – would have handed them medal shots. Turning those results into wins – of which at least three are needed in the group phase – will be key.

Crystal Ball:
A side that looks to be improving by increments in the past two years, Korea have shown they will always be competitive and battle to the end as evidenced by their Four Nations victory in January and the narrow scorelines in the last two Champions Trophy competitions. But their inability to grab definitive results in one-off games means the fifth to eighth place playoffs currently looks the most likely outcome.

Olympic Torch Roti Roll..

Jul 11, 2012 - AMRTISAR: World will witness Sikhism's wonderful tradition of Langar (free kitchen) on July 21 when Sikhs will distribute free 'Roti Rolls Langar' to public to commemorate the carrying of the Olympic Torch by 101-year-old marathoner Fauja Singh (picture).
     "We are proud to share with the public, the 500-year-old Sikh tradition of serving free meals, (langar), to celebrate the carrying of the Olympic Torch on July 21 by Fauja Singh," told  Parvinder Kaur, project manager of Langgar 2012, Sikh NGO, United Sikhs on Wednesday.
     Third Sikh master Guru Amar Das had formalized the institution of langar uniting the Sikhs by establishing two key concepts of Pangat and Sangat.
     Project director, Langar 2012 , Mejinderpal Kaur said that branded in yellow t-shirts, specially designed with Fauja Singh's image, each volunteer, from the Sikh community and those invited from multiple faiths and backgrounds would come together to serve free meals to the local community of the five host boroughs of the Olympics. 
    The langar would be distributed at key points of the 30 mile Olympic Torch Route from Greenwich Park to Waltham Forest Town Hall she added.
    She said: "It was expected that there would be several langar service points in each of the five boroughs that the route traverses, each serving at least 1,000 Roti Rolls within two hours. The Roti Roll Langar is anticipated to reach thousands of people who would have turned up to cheer the day the Torch arrives in Newham, where Fauja Singh will carry the Torch."
     "Waheguru has given me all the opportunities to do all the other things in life both sporting and personal. I pray that Waheguru will allow me to fulfill this dream of carrying the torch in my home city in less than a fortnight. It would be the icing on the cake. To me this is as important as when I received a telegram from the Queen on my 100th Birthday last year," said Kaur while quoting Fauja Singh.
      At present, 15 gurdwaras from South and East London had agreed to participate and five more Gurdwaras were in the process of deciding. "We are inviting Gurdwaras from outside London from as far as north as Scotland to as far west as Wales to partner the London Gurdwaras to set up more 'Langgar 2012' service points informed.

Dharmaraj selects Sukma freshies...

NATIONAL Juniors hockey coach K. Dharmaraj has never  been so excited about the Malaysia Games, as he saw come  encouraging changes in all states at the Pahang Games.
    After watching almost all the matches, his conclusion was  that the Games has finally served its purpose.
   “All the teams hers, men and women, play attacking  hockey just like the Project 2013. There was full press in all  the matches I watched as state coaches adapted the Project  2013 style of play.
    “This is a very encouraging news, as hockey was played at  a high pace, and there were many quality players in every  state,” said Dharmaraj.
    All the Project boys who went back to their states were  either made into skippers, or took the lead in their de partments.
     “Previously, this was not the trend, as some of the Project  players looked jaded when they played for their states. But in  Pahang, my boys are making their presence felt,” said  Dharmaraj.
     The other encouraging news is that Dharmaraj has spotted  at least one new face from every state.
     “Even Sarawak has a promising player in Rhohan Utok who  can flick the ball from one semi-circle to another. He will be  among those who will be called for a camp during the fasting  period,” said Dharmaraj.
     Only Kuala Lumpur players have not been selected: “I  know them (KL boys) like the back of my hand and will select  them at a later date.”
     The fresh faces selected for training are Sobirin llias  (Perlis), Hanif Azaemi (Kedah), Azwar Rahman (Penang),  Haris Fadillah,  Meor Azqan Haasan (Perak), Amir Zulka rnain Robangi (Selangor), Asraf Zulzali (Negri), Rasydan  Saiful (Malacca), Safeed Roslan (Johor), Sufi Ismat Ro hulamin (Terengganu), Azmi Deraman (Kelantan), Najib Abu  Hassan (Pahang).

London A War Zone..

Armed and ready...http://www.dailymail.co.uk

 

 Security: Soldiers in residential tower blocks and green open spaces were yesterday pictured installing surface-to-air missiles at a number of sites across the capital. This image shows Rapier missile systems on Blackheath Common

 Show of strength: With two weeks to go before the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, it marks a dramatic development as part of the security operation

 Force: Soldiers are pictured preparing the missile site on the top of Lexington Building, Tower Hamlets. It is part of the biggest peacetime security operation the country has ever seen

 

Deadly: This picture shows troops testing anti-aircraft guns in Hyde Park, London in 1939. Many older generations of people no doubt thought they would never see such weaponry in the capital again.