KLHC keep League title in sight..

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) did just enough to beat Sapura 3-2 in Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League at the National Hockey Stadium yesterday.
  The double champions started their second round campaign with an identical win over Sapura, whom they also edged 3-2 on Sunday in Kuantan.
  However, at the adjacent pitch, UniKl fell 4-1 to Trengganu, after beating them 3-1 last weekend.
  Sapura took the lead in the ninth minute through rough Dangerous Lee but KLHC equalised four minutes before halftime when Akhtar Ali got it right.
  However, Sapura were back at the front in the 40th minute when Khasif Ali converted a penalty corner, taking his tally to nine goals in the MHL.
  The lead, however, lasted only eight minutes as KLHC's Muhammad Imran made it 2-2  before stepping up to score from another penalty corner in the 52nd minute to give KLHC full points.
  As for UniKL, they paid the price for sloppy defending in the 20th minute when Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin's hard work and deft pass allowed Alif Nazaruddin  to tap in from close range.
  And four minutes later Sufi Ismat made it 2-0 after he was left alone on the far post to score.
   Fitri Saari then scored a beauty in the 41st minute for a comfortable 3-0 led before S. Selvarajoo pulled a goal back for UniKL in the 53rd minute but Firtri Saari made the final score 4-1 with a 70th min penalty corner conversion.
   "We gave them too much respect and paid the price for it. We let in soft goals and failed to make use of the chances that we created. It was a poor display by our standards and it was a disappointing outing," said UniKL coach Arul Selvaraj.
  "It was a lucky escape for us and credit to Sapura who played really well. We were a bit soft in defene and need to do better. But I admire the fighting qualities displayed by my players as they never gave up," said KLHC manager George Koshy.
  RESULTS: Premier Division -- KLHC 3 Sapura 2, UniKL 1 Terengganu 4, Nur Insafi 0 Tenaga 1.
  SATURDAY: Premier Division -- Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (National Stadium II, 6pm).
  Division One: Sunday 2030 v TNB Thunderbolts ((National Stadium I, 6pm), UniTen v Bukit Jalil SS (National Stadium II, 8pm), SSTMI v UiTm (Taman Daya, 6pm).
  SUNDAY: Premier Division -- UniKL v Sapura (National Stadium I, 6pm), Nur Insafi v Maybank (National Stadium II, 6pm), KLHC v Terengganu (National Stadium II, 8pm).

STANDINGS

PREMIER DIVISION

             P  W  D  L  F  A   Pts
KLHC         7  6  1  0  30  10  19
TNB          7  4  3  0  24  12  15
Maybank      6  4  0  2  21  17  12
Sapura       7  2  2  3  17  17   8
Tgganu       7  2  1  4  17  20   7
UniKL        7  2  0  5  10  22   6
N Insafi     7  0  1  6   6  27   1

KLHC looking for a home run...

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) will be looking to strengthen their grip in the Premier Division when they play Sapura Friday in the Malaysia Hockey League.
   The second round begins this weekend and leaders KLHC, who could only edge Sapura 3-2 last Sunday, are looking for a better showing.
   “My players put themselves under unnecessary pressure by letting in a first minute goal, and then here were some silly mistakes in the end game which saw Sapura almost snatch a draw last weekend.
    “However, I am confident that the second meeting will not be the same as we aim to pull further ahead to defend out League title,” said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
    The double champions have only dropped points in the 3-3 draw against Tenaga Nasional in the first round, and are four points clear of chasing Tenaga and Maybank who have 12 points each.
    Sapura are fourth on the standings with eight points after an erratic first round display.
    The MHL this season is much more competitive with the inclusion of a big pool of foreign players, mainly from Pakistan, while the national players are also keenly watched by coach Paul Revington as they have two important assignments this year.
     The Semi-finals of the World League from June 29-July 7 in Johor and the Asia Cup from Aug 24-Sept 1 in Ipoh, are both qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup.
     And after the MHL ends, Revington’s men will play six matches against China starting on May 19 and the coach has also plans for a one-week tour of South Africa in early June.
    In the World League, No 13 Malaysia are in Group A with world No 1 Germany, South Korea (eight) and the champion from round two of the World League.
    In Group B are England (four) and Pakistan (five) while two more will be decided after the Round Two of the World League.
  And in the Asia Cup, Malaysia are in Group A with Pakistan, Japan and Taiwan, while in Group B are South Korea, India, Oman and Bangladesh.
    TODAY: Premier Division -- KLHC v Sapura (National Stadium I, 6pm), UniKL v Terengganu (National Stadium II, 6pm), Nur Insafi v Tenaga (National Stadium II, 8pm).
    Division One: Ipoh City Council v TNB Thunderbolts (Azlan Shah Stadium, 6pm).
    TOMORROW: Premier Division -- Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (National Stadium II, 6pm).
    Division One: Sunday 2030 v TNB Thunderbolts ((National Stadium I, 6pm), UniTen v Bukit Jalil SS (National Stadium II, 8pm), SSTMI v UiTm (Taman Daya, 6pm).
   SUNDAY: Premier Division -- UniKL v Sapura (National Stadium I, 6pm), Nur Insafi v Maybank (National Stadium II, 6pm), KLHC v Terengganu (National Stadium II, 8pm).


STANDINGS
PREMIER DIVISION

                   P  W  D  L  F  A   Pts
KLHC          6  5  1  0  27  8    16
TNB            6  3  3  0  23  12    12
Maybank    6  4  0  2  21  17    12
Sapura        6  2  2  2  15  14    8
UniKL         6  2  0  4  9   18      6
Tgganu       6  1  1  4  13  19    4
N Insafi      6  0  1  5   6    26     1

Under-16 bronze for Malaysia...

By Singapore Hockey Federation

PAKISTAN are the champions of the 2nd Boys U16 Asia Cup 2013 after emerging triumphant in the final with a 5-3 victory over Bangladesh in front a capacity crowd of close to 1,000 supporters.
    In the end, the title came down to the two strongest teams throughout the four-day event and the final showed that the two were on par with one another.
   The event was the official debut of the new Hockey 5 format and overall, it was a success with offense and speed ruling the action on the field.
  In the first period, Pakistan’s quality clearly shone through as they scored two goals in just seven minutes.
  However, Pakistan’s lead was cancelled out just minutes into the second period. Bangladesh earned a penalty and Pakistan were dealt a big blow when two of their players were given yellow cards. The bookings forced Pakistan to play with just three players for two minutes of play. Bangladesh converted their penalty and made use of their two-man advantage to level the score at 2-2.
   After serving the stipulated two minutes, Pakistan welcomed back the full squad of five and put in a disciplined performance to see them through to a 5-3 win.
  In other matches, Malaysia claimed bronze after beating Japan 2-1 in the 3rd and 4th Placing Match.
   In the 5th and 6th Placing Match, it took a penalty shootout for Chinese-Taipei to clinch 5th spot. They beat Korea 1-0 on shootout after the match had ended 5-5.
   Individual honours were also given out to three outstanding players.
   Muhammad Atiq of Pakistan was named the Top Goalscorer with 20 goals to his name.
   Mhommad Ashraful Islam of Bangladesh won the Player of the Tournament trophy while Malaysia’s Ammad Fahmi Azhar Ruddin earned the Goalkeeper of the Tournament award.

We don't need a consultant, we're fine thank you..

TERENGGNANU team manager Saberi Salleh said they  will stick with the present coaching set-up for the second leg  of the Malaysia Hockey Legue, as he feels his team has  achieved their target even though the results are not very  encouraging.
   The debutantes had secured six national players to  strengthen their campaign, while the rest were mostly their  Malaysia Games players.
    “If you study at the standings, Terengganu look like a flop in  their first Premier Division season. But in reality, the six  national players which we hired, have been very instrumental in helping our Malaysia Games players improve their  game.
   “The management can see this change in the young boys,  and so, we have no plans to hire a consultant or change the  coaching set-up for the second round,” said Saberi.
    Terengganu had paid big bucks to secure Tengku Ahmad  Tajuddin, Fitri Saari, Azlan Misron, Shahrun Nabil, Ismail  Abu and Ameerullah Aziz but have been a flop as they have  only one win and a draw to show in mid-season.
     “Every team has an objective, and ours was to help the  youth in our team to became more confident, matured  players by playing alongside established names.
   “The state government has pledged to continue supporting  our team to play in the MHL, so we are not in for a short term,  but looking to nurture our state-born players into better  players and I am sure the results will follow suit,” said  Saberi.
    Their only win was against Nur Insafi (5-1) while the draw  was against Tenaga Nasional (4-4).
   They will open their second round campaign against  UniKL, who beat them on Sunday 3-1.
    On the other end of the scale, defending champions Kuala  Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) are clear by four points from the  chasing pack of Sapura and Tenaga who have 12 points in  mid-season.
    KLHC play Sapura again on Friday, and a win would almost  hand the League title to them early in the second round.
 
STANDINGS

PREMIER DIVISION

                   P  W  D  L  F  A   Pts
KLHC          6  5  1  0  27  8    16
TNB            6  3  3  0  23  12    12
Maybank    6  4  0  2  21  17    12
Sapura        6  2  2  2  15  14    8
UniKL         6  2  0  4  9   18      6
Tgganu       6  1  1  4  13  19    4
N Insafi      6  0  1  5   6    26     1

KLHC sweat for win, UniKL break Terengganu..

Pic: KLHC's Harvinder Singh making an attempt against Sapura in Kuantan.
DEFENDING champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) were made to sweat before edging Sapura 3-2 in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League at the Kuantan Stadium yesterday.
    KLHC completed the first round with only one blemish, a 3-3 draw against Tenaga Nasional, and look good to break free in the second round starting this Friday.
   KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj said it was an important win, as they will start the second round against Sapura again.
   “We let in a goal and had to chase back for the win which resulted in unnecessary pressure in the last 10 minutes of the match. However, I am happy that we did not drop points in this match, as we will be playing against Sapura again on Friday in the second leg.
    “It was an important win, as I did not want to give Sapura an edge going into Friday,” said Dharmaraj.
     KLHC were given a scare in the sixth minute when Azrul Hasbullah connected a reverse stick cross to hand Sapura the lead, but Pakistan import Muhammad Imran put them level off a 35th minute penalty corner.
   And two quick goals by Imran in the 48th minute and Chua Boon Huat in the 54th minute gave KLHC some breathing space.
    Sapura’s Khasif Ali converted a penalty corner in the 60th minute to reduce the margin, but could not capitalise on two penalty more penalty corners they won in the 64th and 65th minutes.
   As for UniKL, they finally won their second match in mid-season when Noor Faeez Ibrahim delivered a hat-trick in the 18th, 22nd and 67th minutes. The Terengganu goal was scored by Jivan Mohan in the 40th minute.
   “It was a fantastic performance and I am really proud of my players. They never gave our opponents much space, and we hope to build on this in the second round,” said UniKL coach Arul Selvaraj.
   RESULTS: Premier Division --  Sapura  2 KLHC 3, Terengganu 1 UniKL  3, Tenaga x Maybank x.
    Note: Matches at Pitch I and II of the Kuantan Hockey   Stadium.

STANDINGS

PREMIER DIVISION

                   P  W  D  L  F  A   Pts
KLHC          6  5  1  0  27  8    16
Maybank    5  4  0  1  20  12    12
TNB            5  2  3  0  18  11    9
Sapura        6  2  2  2  15  14    8
UniKL         6  2  0  4  9   18      6
Tgganu       6  1  1  4  13  19    4
N Insafi      6  0  1  5   6    26     1