Walsh: Here to educate coaches and players..

TERENCE Arthur Walsh is back in Malaysia as a coaching Technical Director.

  Better known around the globe as Terry Walsh, he last coached Malaysia from 1990-1994, and yesterday he answered questions on why he made it back to our shores after being unceremoniously hounded out 21 years.

  "The reason I am back is because there have been many positive changes in the administration of hockey in the country," was his blunt opening statement.

  And then he gave an insight which hit the nail spot on: "Australians do not reveal much, but when they do it good that one listens. I was told (by Australian coaches and players) that Malaysian players have great potential, but they just do not know how to do it...."

  And he gave an example: "I was watching Malaysia play India in the quarter-finals of the World League Semi-finals from thousands of miles away and after taking a 2-1 lead, they lost their Olympic hope to two penalty corners (lost 3-2).

  "They showed great potential by coming back from a goal down to lead 2-1, but after that, they just did not know what to do."

  Walsh signed a two-plus-two contract with the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) and his primary job is to educate the coaches and players.

  For starters, he will conduct a two-day coaching seminar from Monday for 14 FIH Level Three Malaysian coaches, and in two weeks time will sit down with the MHC Coaching committee to select the chief coach.

  The other revelation made by Terry was that other races have been left out of the hockey fraternity.

  "Malaysia had and I believe has many good players from all segments (races) and we need to bring them back into the game to form a lethal combustion which will take the nation into the top 10 or even top eight in the world.

  In the 90s there were many non-Malays playing hockey for the country, but today, only goalkeeper S. Kumar and Baljit Singh remain in the senior team, while there are no non-Malays in the Project 2016 squad as well as in the women's teams.

  When asked if he will chance the playing system: "No, there are many good things in how the team plays now, but we need to chance some factors to make everything linear and then we can start by becoming better in the Asian level, before looking at the world tournaments."

  Walsh was the chief coach of India from 2013 to 2014, but a left after getting caught in red tape, but not before making sure India become Asian Games champions and qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

  As for Malaysia, the three important senior tournaments in 2018 are the World Cup, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.

  This year, the juniors would be involved in a Junior World Cup qualifier, when Kuantan plays hosts to the Junior Asia Cup.

KLHC keep the lead...

DOUBLE champions Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) had to bring out their best to edge Sapura 1-0 in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) at the Batu Buruk Stadium yesterday.
  The solitary goal was scored by national player Azlan Misron, off a penalty corner set-piece, in the 39th minute.
  And at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) rode on luck to beat Tenaga Nasional 3-1 to top the standings on 10 points.
  Tenaga took the lead off a Shahril Saabah goal in the 25th minute, but Pakistan import Ali Shan nailed the equaliser in the 30th minute.
  But a silly mistake by Tenaga's Amirol Aideed gifted the goal to Rashid Baharom (47th), and the third was slotted in by Pakistan's Umar Bhutta in the 48th minute.
  THT coach Sarjit Singh said it was not an easy match, as Sapura were on top of them most of the match.
  "We did just enough to win three points on our home turf, as Sapura pinned us down in our own semi-circle in the last quarter. This year, the competition is very high and it is not going to be as easy as last season, as even the national juniors are playing very well for their clubs," said Sarjit.
  THT have nine points from four matches, and will play UniKL next on Sunday.
  "UniKL only lost 0-1 to KLHC (Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club) and I believe it will be another bruising encounter. However, we are playing at home in Terengganu and the crowd support was great against Sapura, and I believe the fans will come out in numbers again Sunday to support their players win three points," said Sarjit.
  Sapura will travel back to Kuala Lumpur to play Tenaga Nasional at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil Sunday, and coach Tai Beng Hai is keeping his fingers crossed that the journey does not 'kill them'.
    RESULTS: Premier Division -- KLHC 3 Tenaga 1, Terengganu HT 1 Sapura 0.
  Division One: Group A: Thunderbolts x MASUM USM x, BJSS 4 MSP-YP-SSP 3; Group B: SSTMI 0 PKS KPM 1, ATM Airod 1 UiTM 3, Nur Insafi 2 Politeknik 1
  Women: Group A: Penang Juniors 1 MSNT-PHT 1, Politeknik 1 The Cops 2; Group B: KL Sukma 4 Manjung 0.
 TODAY: Division One B: UniKL Young Guns v UiTM (National Stadium I, 5pm), SSTMI v Nur Insafi (Taman Daya I, 5pm), PKS-KPM v Politeknik (Taman Daya II, 5pm).
  Women: Group A: Politeknik v ATM Pernama (Malacca, 5pm); Group B: PKS-KPM v KL Sukma (National Stadium II, 7pm), SSTMI Thunderbolts v MSN Kedah (Taman Daya I, 7pm).
   TOMORROW: Premier Division -- Terengganu HT v UniKL (Batu Buruk, 6pm), Sapura v Tenaga (National Stadium II, 6pm), Maybank v KLHC (National Stadium II, 8pm).
  Division One: Group A: BJSS v Thunderbolts (Ministry of Education, 5pm), MSp-YP-SSP v Ipoh MC (Kuantan, 5pm); Group B: PKS-KPM v SSTMI (National Stadium I, 4pm), UiTM v ATM Airod (National Stadium I, 6pm).
  Women: Group A: MSNT-PHT v Penang Juniors (Batu Buruk, 4pm); Group B: Manjung v SSTMI Thunderbolts (Azlan Shah, 5pm).

Maybank v UniKL washed out

THE Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division match between Maybank and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) was abandoned after heavy rain at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil Thursday.
  Both the teams were supposed to play Friday, but requested for a change in fixtures because UniKl will be travelling to Terengganu to play Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) on Sunday.
  Friday, the high-stakes match to watch is THT and Sapura, both looking to pull free in the first round.
  RESULT: Premier Division -- Maybank v UniKL (Game postponed due to heavy rain).
  FRIDAY: Premier Division -- KLHC v Tenaga (National Stadium II, 6pm), Terengganu HT v Sapura (Batu Buruk, 6pm).
  Division One: Group A: Thunderbolts v MASUM USM (Taman Daya, 7pm), BJSS v MSP-Yp-SSP (Ministry of Education, 5pm); Group B: SSTMI v PKS KPM (Taman Daya, 5pm), ATM Airod v uiTM (Tun Razak, 5pm).
  Women: Group A: Penang Juniors v MSNt-PHT (Sungai Petani, 5pm), Politeknik v The Cops (Malacca, 5pm); Group B: KL Sukma v manjung (KLHA, 5pm).
 SATURDAY: Division One B: UniKL Young Guns v UiTM (National Stadium I, 5pm), SSTMI v Nur Insafi (Taman Daya I, 5pm), PKS-KPM v Politeknik (Taman Daya II, 5pm).
  Women: Group A: Politeknik v ATM Pernama (Malacca, 5pm); Group B: PKS-KPM v KL Sukma (National Stadium II, 7pm), SSTMI Thunderbolts v MSN Kedah (Taman Daya I, 7pm).
   SUNDAY: Premier Division -- Terengganu HT v UniKL (Batu Buruk, 6pm), Sapura v Tenaga (National Stadium II, 6pm), Maybank v KLHC (National Stadium II, 8pm).
  Division One: Group A: BJSS v Thunderbolts (Ministry of Education, 5pm), MSp-YP-SSP v Ipoh MC (Kuantan, 5pm); Group B: PKS-KPM v SSTMI (National Stadium I, 4pm), UiTM v ATM Airod (National Stadium I, 6pm).
  Women: Group A: MSNT-PHT v Penang Juniors (Batu Buruk, 4pm); Group B: Manjung v SSTMI Thunderbolts (Azlan Shah, 5pm).

THT bounce back after hammering...

TERENGGANU Hockey Team (THT) and their Argentines look like they have recovered from early jitters, and jet-lag, after they were hammered 6-2 by Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) 6-2 in the Premier Division Charity Shield.
  Double champions THT came charging back to win their next two matches convincingly, by hammering Maybank 5-1 and Tenaga Nasional 5-0 to stay in the hunt to defend their titles.
  THT, who hired four Argentina and One Pakistan player, showed better understanding after a turbulent opening match.
  "The Charity Shield is best forgotten, because almost all my players played well below par and lost 2-6. To be frank, my guest players had just arrived in Malaysia three days before we played KLHC, and they were still getting adjusted to the weather and also the time difference then," said THT coach Sarjit Singh.
  The four Argies took a total of 52 hours to arrive, with two stop overs and 16 hours in transit.
  "When my Argentine players arrived they were really tired as it nearly took them three days of travelling to finally reach their destination.
  "But now, they are used to the new time zone, as well as slowly getting adjusted to the weather," said Sarjit.
  Jose Leandro Tolin scored three penalty corner goals, one each against KLHC, Maybank and Tenaga. THT's top scorer is Faizal Saari with five goals to his name, three field, one penalty corner and one penalty stroke.
  KLHC and Sapura are leading the charge on seven points each, but they THT are snapping at their heels and its going to be another exciting MHL weekend when THT play Sapura on Friday -- as it could make or break both teams.


PREMIER DIVISION

                                         P W D L F  A Pts
KL HOCKEY CLUB 3 2 1 0 10 5 7
SAPURA                         3 2 1 0 7  5 7
T'GGANU HT                 3 2 0 1 12 7 6
TENAGA                3 2 0 1 5  8 6
UniKL                       3 0 0 3 3  6 0
MAYBANK               3 0 0 3 3  9 0

Maybank suffer third defeat..

MAYBANK turned out to be the early casualty in Premier One of the Malaysia Hockey Legue (MHL) as they fell to their third defeat when they were edged 2-1 by Sapura yesterday.

  After losing 2-1 to Tenaga Nasional and 5-1 to Terengganu Hockey Team, the defeat yesterday has put Maybank out of contention for a top-two finish.

  And it looks like the Tigers' investment in six foreign players, five Pakistan and one from India, has made little difference to their campaign.

  Sapura, with five imports, impressed when they held Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club 3-3 on Friday.

  Yesterday, Maybank took the lead off Mohamad Syafiq Zain in the ninth minute, but Dangerous Lee drew level in the 38th minute, while Pakistan import Abdul Haseem Khan nailed the Sapura winner in the 54th minute.

  "We have had a good start this season and hope to keep the momentum going in the remaining matches. Today (yesterday) we had to chase after being a goal down, and my players put up a good fight," said Sapura coach Tai Beng Hai who is riding the MHL on seven points after three matches.

   Maybank coach S. Vellapan said in all three matches they had to chase in the final quarter and that cost them the matches.

  "We were always chasing for goals and when we opened up to counter, that is when we got hit. In the remaining matches, we need to make sure this does not happen," said Vellapan.

    RESULTS: Premier Division: Maybank 1 Sapura 2, UniKL 0 KL Hockey Club 1, Tenaga Nasional 0 Terengganu HT 5.

  Division One Group A: BJSS 2 MBI 1, MSN-THT v TNB Thunderbolts (Match abandoned, rain).

  Group B: UniKL Young Guns 1 SSTMI Thunderbolts 1, ATM Airod 4 PKS-KPM 5, UiTM 2 Politeknik 0.

  Women's Group A: MSN-PHT 1 Politeknik 2; Group B: Manjung 0 UiTM Lions 3.