Sports icon Hamzah Abu Samah passes away

KUALA LUMPUR: National sports icon and Olympic Council of Malaysia's Honorary Life President Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah passed away at 3.30pm Tuesday due to old age. He was 88.
Apart from being a Cabinet minister heading various ministries until his decision to quit in September 1980, Hamzah was the President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia from 1976 to 1998; Vice-President of the Islamic Solidarity Sport Federation (1985-1994); Vice-President of the General Association of the Asian Sports Federation (1988-1998); Vice-President of the Olympic Council of Asia (1982-1986); Vice-President of the Commonwealth Games Federation (1982-1998); Honorary Life President of the Southeast Asian Games Federation since 1977.
He was also President of the Football Association of Malaysia (1976-1983); Honorary President of the Football Association of Malaysia since 1983; President of the Asian Football Confederation (1978-1994); Honorary President of the Asian Football Confederation since 1994; Vice-President of FIFA (1982-1990); Honorary Executive Member of FIFA since 1990; President of the Malaysian Cricket Association (1969-1990); President of the Malaysia Taekwondo Association (1987-1999).
He was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1978 to 2004 and was appointed Honorary Member since 2004. - Bernama

Bangladesh wins World League R1 in Singapore

The key meeting in the R1 event was between Bangladesh and Singpore, pictured here (Photo: TILT Pte Ltd)

With a perfect 3-0 record, Bangladesh won the Hockey World League Round 1 tournament hosted by Singapore. Bangladesh netted a pair of 6-1 wins against Hong Kong and Thailand, but it was yesterday’s 4-2 win against host Singapore that was ultimately the deciding match.
   In the key meeting, the two teams were deadlocked at two at the half, but a pair of second-half goals coming from Mohammad Moinul Islam and Rashel Mahmud Jimmy pulled Bangladesh through to the 4-2 victory. Jimmy was the key for Bangladesh throughout the tournament, he finished the event with five goals.
  The tournament victory means that Bangladesh will move onto the Hockey World League Round 2. Bangladesh is the only team from the quartet that will go onto the next round. Singapore ended the tournament in second place with six points and Hong Kong and Thailand rounded out the standings.
  The best player award for the tournament went to Singpore's Saifulnizam Md Seftu and the best goalkeeper was Thailand's Authachai Soh-Tree.
  Hockey World League Round 1 action continues next weekend with three tournaments. A men’s tournament will be hosted in Cardiff, Wales, while Accra, Ghana will host both a men’s and women’s tournament. All three events will run from September 7-9.
FIH

Honeymoon period over

By Ajitpal Singh

TALL ORDER: New coach Revington has a substantial challenge on his hands

NATIONAL coach Paul Revington watched, for the first time, Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) matches last weekend but the holiday will soon end as the South African will need immediate results to keep local critics silent.
  His predecessors were sliced and chopped like minced meat in the past for failure to elevate the status of local hockey and if he does not succeed in making positive changes, he too could face a similar fate.
  Revington's first task in charge will be the Champions Challenge I in Argentina on Nov 24-Dec 2 and then the Asian Champions Trophy in Doha on Dec 14-22.
  "Results are very important for a team and their players to earn recognition and respect.
  "I definitely want Malaysia to win every match but at the same time play good hockey," said Revington at the National Hockey Stadium on Sunday.
  "My job is to bring some level of consistency in terms of play and results. It will help create opportunities for locals to ply their trade with foreign clubs, especially in Europe."
   The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) made it clear to Revington, before he penned his contract last week, that it wants to see Malaysia qualify for the 2014 World Cup and then the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
   It will be a tall order for Malaysia as they have not featured in either competition for a long time but Revington's arrival definitely gives the local game new hope and a breath of fresh air.
  Revington, who is on a four-year contract, also praised the quality of the local league.
  "There are many quality players in the MHL. They are world class but, of course, need to improve on some aspects of their game which will be done during national training," he said.
  Revington intends to call up between 25 and 30 players for centralised training after the MHL final on Oct 10.
  "I will evaluate the performance of everyone singled out during the league before naming my core players.
   "But I will keep my options open as there could also be quality players in the Razak Cup which starts four days after the MHL," he said.
   On whether he will keep an open mind in player selection, Revington said those who perform, regardless of their experience and caps, will be considered for trials.
  "I do not want to name anyone who has impressed me so far just yet as I've just watched one weekend of matches. I will get a better perspective after a few weeks.
  "I will need to sit down with those concerned for at least two days after the league before naming the national squad. I will only pick the best," Revington added.

Is Paul Lissek Hockey India's HPM choice?

By Uthra Ganesan Chaturvedi

Hockey India has announced the appointment of a High Performance Manager by the end of next month. Even though they have insisted that they are yet to shortlist the candidates – the person appointed would be responsible for development of a complete structure for hockey in India with all the coaches, including national coach Michael Nobbs, reporting to him -- sources claim that German Paul Lissek is a clear favourite.
    Lissek spent almost a decade in Malaysia as their technical director with mixed results. Though Malaysia won their first-ever bronze in Asian Games and Commonwealth Games when he was the coach, subsequenty he could not produce much as a coach.
  Lissek may have been assistant to Ric Charlesworth for London Olympics but his contribution to modern hockey and the teams he has been with has been nothing of note. In fact, he came on Ric’s team only in the final year of preparation, by which time the Australian team was almost settled for the Games. Lissek was also considered and rejected by the Pakistan Hockey Federation, mainly because of his inability to understand the subcontinental style.
  It will also have to be seen whether his defensive style would gel with Nobb’s preference to play attacking hockey. A strong personality like Ric may have been able to get his way, mainly because Ric was in charge in Australia. Here, Lissek will be in charge, which means more tussles.
  Most importantly, the concept of a high performance manager (HPM) itself is tricky. Countries that have the position – like Germany, Holland or New Zealand – have a proper structure in place, clearly-defined roles and a set hierarchy, with the federation not interfering in sporting matters. The technical director handles technical and management issues, including stuff like getting technological support, laying the turf and other such logistical matters. In these countries, he doesn’t interfere with the coaching or selection issues.
  Here, Nobbs will be answerable to Lissek with the latter having final say on contentious issues. The only time that happened was when New Zealand Cricket appointed Charlesworth as HPM – and they had to end the association abruptly in less than a year after the players protested against his high-handedness!
  Under these circumstances, it looks Indian hockey is in for more churning.
Stick2Hockey.com

Sapura bounce back...

Having been whitewashed in their opening match, Sapura bounced back with a gusty display to defeat UniKL 3-1 in a Premier Division match of the TNB Malaysian Hockey League at the National Hockey Stadium.
Barely 24 hours earlier Sapura suffered the humiliation of a 5-0 defeat at the hands of KL Hockey Club. But they showed resilience to subdue a largely ineffective UniKL side who also lost their opening match 3-2 against Nur Insafi-Perak.
The defeat casts serious doubts on the ability of UniKL to make the grade as they played without any zest normally accustomed with their previous teams.

Sapura took the lead against the run of play in the 4th minute through Azreen Rizal Nasir. But their midfield failed to take grasp of things and allowed UniKL back into the game.

Though UniKL were awarded three consecutive penalty corners, they failed to make much headway with Mohd Noor faeez Ibrahim opting to go for direct attempts instead of side stepping the first runner.

However he made amends in the 15th minute and UniKL grew in confidence.

Sapura were undeterred and were awarded a penalty stroke in the 30th minute when a penalty corner attempt by Pakistan's Muhammad Imran struck a defenders body on the goal line.

But South Korea's Lee Jung Seon made a hash of things as his stroke was easily saved by UniKL keeper Shahrul Azaddin Auskarzie.

Though Sapura forced another three penalty corners in the closing stages of the first half, they failed to capitalise and at half time both team were evenly match with a scoreline of 1-1.

Mohd Marhan Jalil made it 2-1 in the 41st minute before Mohd Razali Mohd Zulkipli extended the advantage with a reverse stick goal in the 58th minute.