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SABAH withdrew from the MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League (JHL) just three days before the tournament starts, blaming it on their Education Department.
The JHL saw a record 28 teams registering, and Sabah’s no show has thrown the Division Two Group A tournament fixtures into turmoil.
They were supposed to start their JHL campaign against PHA-Anderson Juniors at the National hockey Stadium this Friday.
“We are unable to field a team as the Sabah Education Department has rejected our request to field school boys in the JHL,” said Sabah HA Secretary Aftar Singh.
“It is not easy for teams from East Malaysia to play in the JHL as there are also logistics issues, like arranging for the players to attend classes while away.
“We regret the decision to withdraw and understand that the MHC (Malaysian Hockey Confederation) can take action against us, but we ask for understanding as this is beyond our control.
“There are limited players in Sabah and try as we did, we just could not find replacements as we received the no tification from the Education Department today (yester day).”
Sabah became the Division Two champions in their maiden JHL appearance in 2010. Then, they were based in Pan damaran, Klang.
However, they did not field a side for the last two years. Division Two will now have nine teams in Group A and 10 teams in Group B.
There are eight teams in Division One.
Dangerous Lee (left)..
DANGEROUS LEE, 20, Sarawak’s hope of becoming the first from his state to play with the senior hockey side, threw in the towel yesterday, citing fear of competing among his peers.
And his SMS to coach K. Dharmaraj sent the latter’s blood boiling, as the coach has great hopes on him to carry the Malaysian flag in the December Junior World Cup in New Delhi.
“I am totally peeved as well as feel being let down by Dangerous because he was among the front-runners in the training squad, to make the grade for the Junior World Cup.
“This is the third time he has thrown in the towel since he started studying in BJSS (Bukit Jalil Sports School). So enough is enough as I will not accommodate a player that does not have a heart,” said Project 2013 coach Dharmaraj.
Dangerous played in the Sultan of Johor Cup and then the Obaidullah Gold Cup in Bhopal at the end of last year, and that was when he chickened out after seeing how his skills are nothing compared to India club players.
“He was feeling down in Bhopal because he felt that the India players were simply too far ahead of him and he could not cope with their pace. He spoke to me about it then, but I did not think he would quit the World Cup training just because of that,” said Dharmaraj.
Dangerous SMS to the coach read: “Coach I will not be attending training tomorrow morning and I hope coach accepts my decision to pull out of the (World Cup) training squad.
“I feel that I can’t make progress anymore as I can’t compete with others. Sorry coach..tq.”
Dharmaraj blames Dangerous’ lame attitude to the soft upbringing he received after he joined BJSS in 2009.
“When I first saw him in action he had the fire in his eyes and wanted to become the first Sarawak player ever to play for the national seniors.
“However, he lost the edge and the fire was doused as BJSS only allowed him to play in the lower divisions of the Malaysia Hockey League.
“If they had released him to play for other teams in Division One back then, he would have become a hardened player now and not quit after getting a few knocks in Bhopal.
“The blame is in BJSS taking their so-called step-by-step approach which makes their players become soft and have a school mentality even after joining national juniors train ing.
“I hope the school changes their approach and does not make softies out of the Project 2017 players who are studying there right now,” said Dharmaraj.
JUNIOR Hockey League (JHL) Division One double champions Tengku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) were slapped with a triple bogey even before they could start their title defence this season.
The JHL fixtures will not only see the champions play a day before the official start of the tournament, but also three matches in three consecutive days.
SSTMI start against SSTMI Juniors on Jan 10 to avoid fixing goals scored at a later stage, then against Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) the next day, followed by Malacca High School.
However, SSTMI coach Wan Roslan Wan Rahman is not one to complain, and is taking the challenge with an open mind.
“The plan is to defend both out titles and we have been training for a long time to make it into a reality. And even though the JHL Competitions Committee has slated us to play three matches in three days, I do not want to complain, as I believe my players are up to it,” said Wan Roslan.
Playing against their sister team SSTMI Juniors would be a breeze, but Wan Roslan expects BJSS and UniKL to give them a hard time.
“It is never easy playing against another sports school, so our opening weekend could make or break our quest. After that I also expect stiff competition form UniKL, who played bridesmaid to us on two occasions last season,” said Wan Roslan.
It was sheer frustration for UniKL Young Guns who lost the League title by one goal difference after being tied on 22 points with SSTMI.
And then, SSTMI beat UniKL 2-1 in the Overall title final.
“We have lost six players to age from the previous side, but still have JHL top scorer Shahril Saabah (18 goals last season) with us to execute the penalty corners.
“We also have three others who can combine with Shahril to do the damage during penalty corners and that would be our strength this season to defend out titles,” said Wan Roslan.
A record 28 teams have registered for the JHL since its inception in 1995, with eight playing in Division One and 20 in two groups in Division Two.
Six teams from Division One and the Group A as well as Group B champions of Division Two will play in the quarter-finals.
THE Junior Hockey league (JHL) will now start on Jan 10, as the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) competitions committee bowed to fair play at the team managers meeting yesterday.
The Division One battle between Tengku Mahkota Ismail Sports School and their sister team SSTMI Juniors was brought forward as JHL team managers felt there could be an element of ‘fixing’ if both the teams played at a later date.
“JHL team managers wanted SSTMI and SSTMI Juniors to play early because if they play later there might be claims of fixing the match like what allegedly happened a few years ago.
“That is why both the team will play a day before the official JHL begins on Jan 11,” said MHC competitions committee chairman M. Gobinathan.
The teams in Division One are defending double champions SSTMI, UniKL Young Guns, Bukit Jalil Sports School, MSSSPP-USM, MBI-Anderson, Petaling Jaya CC, SSTMI Ju niors and newly promoted Malacca High School.
In Division two, Group A is made up of teams mostly from the northern region in order to cut down the cost of travel. The teams are, Sabah Juniors, Anderson Juniors, MSSS Kelantan, 1Mas Penang, Matri, SM Sains Tun Azlan Shah, Kedah HA Juniors, MSSS Perlis, Nur Insafi and Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman Ipoh.
Group B will have Tunku Besar Secondary School, SMK Datuk Taha Gemencheh, Olak-PKT, SMK Padang Midin, MSSS Johor, Politeknik KPT, Kuala Langat, BJSS Juniors, KL Sports School and Tunas Muda Pahang.
A record 28 teams will be competing in the JHL since its inception in 1995. And in the knock-out quarter-finals, six teams from Division One and two teams from Division Two, the champions of their respective groups, will compete.
MALAYSIAN goalkeeper S. Kumar, a wizard with both feet, will turn up for Utter Pradesh Wizards in the Hockey India League starting on Jan 16.
He will be making history of sorts for he will be the first goalkeeper from Malaysia to play in a foreign league when he turns out for a Lucknow-based team which also holds one of the highest paid marquee players of the tournament, Teun de Nooijer from Netherlands.
However, the Malaysian No 1, as well as Asian No 1 goalkeeper ended up playing hockey by chance, not craft.
For in 1994 when he was studying at the Tunku Besar Secondary School, he was training with the school football team when he was approached by the late V. Sivapatha sundram to give hockey a try, as a goalkeeper, since he could kick with both feet.
Kumar was assured by Siva that he only had to be the reserve keeper for the school team, but little did he know that his whole life will change after that.
Not only did he end up as the first choice keeper, but he went on to represent the national team, making his debut at the 1999 Sea Games in Brunei.
He now has 203 caps, played in two World Cup Qualifiers (2006 China and 2009 Invercargil) besides three Olympi Qualifiers (2004 Madrid, 2008 Japan and 2012 Dublin) but never once played in the actual events as Malaysia failed to qualify.
UP Wizards will be coached Roelant Oltmans and the technical director of the team is Dhanraj Pillay, the former Indian captain who played in the Malaysian Hockey League.
The team has two goal keepers from the international circuit in George Bazeley from Australia, Kumar, and one from India, Sreenivasa R. Katharu.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think of this moment, that I will be auctioned and be part of the HIL,” said Kumar whose bid by the Wizards was US15,000.
Malaysiann striker Faizal Saari was bought by Mumbai Magicians for US25,000.
Hockey India League used a unique system where teams have to bid during a ‘playe auction’ to rope in the best.
“It is not only a personal honour but one for the country as well for I had to compete with well known custodians from all over the world. And to think that I was picked over some household names in goalkeeping has further boosted my confidence.
“It will be a totally new experience for me as I will be up against the world’s best players, what more playing in India, where hockey is amongst the most watched sport after cricket.
“This is a chance of a lifetime and I hope to fight for a place in the starting XI as it will be tough competing against Bazeley.”
Kumar owes much of his interest in hockey to his late father S. Subramaniuam who passed away when Kumar was representing the nation at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. And it was with the encouragement of his mother K. Sarasah that Kumar continued playing the sport.
Not many are aware the sacrifices that Kumar had to make as a parent, for he was in China for the 2010 Asian Games when his first son Varshan was born two years ago. And he could only spend hours beside his wife L. Parimalah and their second born Haarshenn before catching the flight to Am sterdam for a goalkeeper coaching stint in November last year.
“My family is very understanding and have been sup porting me. This month-long stint requires a lot of sacrifices and I am indebted to my wife for being able to manage the kids,” said Kumar who has won several accolades during his career as the best goalkeeper in many an international tournament.
Kumar feels that there is a wide gap between the senior and junior goalkeepers as both he and Ros;an Jamaluddin are in their 30's.
“It all boils down to match exposure. And one will not get that by sitting on the bench and waiting for their chance. Thus my advise to the keepers in the junior squad is to look for teams in the Malaysia Hockey League where they will get to play instead of warming the bench,” said Kumar.
