Sept 4: KLHC v THT to decide title..

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) came back from a near-death experience, twice, to hold Sapura to a 4-4 draw in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
  Sapura took a 2-0 lead, but KLHC drew level, only to see Sapura take a 4-2 lead before nailing the two goals to steal a point in the final quarter.
  However, the title chase is still between KLHC and Terengganu Hockey Team -- in a winner-takes-all on Sept 4 at the Batu Buruk Stadium in Kuala Terengganu.
  Yesterday, THT beat Maybank 3-2 in Batu Buruk to set up the mouth-watering season finale.
   Dangerous Lee finally bloomed for Sapura with goals in the eighth and 28th, while the other goals were scored by Faridzul Afiq (12th) and  Norsyafiq Sumantri (38th).
  As for KLHC, the scorers were Syamim Yusof (13th), Harvinder Singh (15th), Nabil Fiqri (53rd) and Ali Shan (57th).
  The match was delayed by faulty lights, as well a thunderstorm, when Sapura were leading 4-2. In Round One, KLHC were also held to a 3-3 draw by Sapura.
  "We played catch-up in most of the match but after the rain delay, we removed the sweepers post and went on an all out attack. It could have back-fired, but my players gave their best and drew the match," said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
  On their final league match on Sept 4: "We beat THT 6-2 in the Charity Shield, but that can't be use to gauge their strength. We need to play our best game of the season, because if my players enter with a complacent attitude, THT are capable of thrashing is 6-2 as well."
  Sapura coach Tai Beng Hai, peeved with several incidents in the match, refused to attend the press conference.
   RESULTS: Premier Division -- Sapura 4 KLHC 4, Terengganu 3 Maybank 2, UniKL 3 Tenaga 4.
  Division One: Group A: MSP-YP-SSP 3 BJSS 2, MBI 4 MSNT-THT 2; Group B: UiTM 4 UniKL Young Guns 1, Nur Insafi 3 SSTMI 1, ATM Airod 3 Politeknik 0.

Alarm bells for Project 2016...

UNIVERSITI Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) have yet to win a single point in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL), and the alarm bells have started to ring loud and clear for coach Arul Selvaraj.
  For, Arul who is also the Project 2016 coach, has 12 national juniors under him in UniKL and time the Junior Asia Cup is just around the corner.
  Kuantan will host the Junior World Cup Qualifier on Nov 14-22 and Malaysia need to make the semi-finals to play in India in 2016.
  Arul admitted that his players still lack confidence in themselves, and he is being helped by Technical Director Terry Walsh to chart their path towards Kuantan,
  "My players (12 Project boys) still lack confidence in themselves and we do have a psychologist to take care of that department, but we have yet to overcome this problem," said Arul after UniKL lost 4-1 to Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club on Friday.
  UniKL held KLHC 1-1 until the fourth quarter, but they crumbled and let in three more goals: "We lost because the players did not believe in themselves," said Arul.
  The Projec 2016 boys will face the challenge of their lives when they play in the Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC) on Oct 11-18. But Arul is not looking for results from the tournament which will feature some of the best juniors in the world.
  Defending champions India, Australia, Argentina, Britain and Pakistan have confirmed for the SOJC.
  "I will not be looking for results in the SOJC as during that period, we will be looking at moving their stamina to a higher level. I am being helped by Walsh to chart their plan towards the Junior Asia Cup, and I believe we will be ready for the Kuantan challenge," said Arul.
  UniKL will play Tenaga Sunday, and it will be an interesting match for Arul, as Tenaga have six 2016 Project players.
  In the First Round, Tenaga beat UniKL 3-2, and then, Arul had said that his six players in Tenaga played much better than the 12 in UniKL.
  RESULT: Division One: Group B: PKS-KPM 2 UniKL Young Guns 2.
  SUNDAY: Premier Division -- Sapura v KLHC (6pm, Pitch II), Terengganu v Maybank (Batu Buruk, 6pm), UniKL v Tenaga (8pm, Pitch II).
  Division One: Group A: MSP-YPSSP v BJSS (Kuantan, 5pm), MBI v MSNT-THT (Azlan Shah, 5pm); Group B: UiTM v UniKL Young Guns (5pm, Pitch I), Nur Insafi v SSTMI (Sg Petani, 5pm), ATM Airod v Politeknik (Tun Razak, 5pm).
  Note: National Stadium in Bukit Jalil unless stated.

KLHC consolidate position...

UNIVERSITI Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) almost became giant killers Saturday, but collapsed in the fourth quarter to hand Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) full points in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League.
  Top-of-the-table KLHC were tied 1-1 with UniKL until the 48th minute, but a 15 minute onslaught saw them collapsing like dominoes.
  KLHC took the lead off Ali Shan in the fourth minute, but Richard Sykes equalsied in the 25th minute and the match looked like it was heading for an upset.
  However UniKL, who have yet to win a single point this season, went down tamely to goals from Noor Faeez Ibrahim (48th) and Razie Rahim (51st, 52nd).
  The difference yesterday was that UniKL players did not have the confidence in the last quarter, while experienced hands KLHC went in the last phase of the match with determination.
  "Yes, we almost had our moment under the spot-light, but when my players went in for the last 15 minutes I could see from their body language that they were saying 'on no, we have to go through another 15 minutes.
  "Lack of confidence in themselves was whay we lost the match," said UniKL coach Arul Selvaraj.
  Arul, who is also the Project 2016 coach, hopes his charges will show progress before the Junior Asia Cup in Kuantan.
  "We have 12 Project 2016 players in this team, and my main worry now is their lack of believe in themselves. This needs to be rectified before we head to Kuantan to qualify for the Junior World Cup," said Arul.
   KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj and hie men had a different mindset: "Going into the last quarter, I told my players that they have a lot of time to win the match and I expected them to score at least one, but they did even better by scoring three. They had the confidence, and we retained our lead and it looks like the final match on Sept 4 (against Terengganu Hockey Team) will decide who lifts the title."
  RESULTS: Premier Division -- KLHC 4 UniKL 1, Terengganu HT 2 Tenaga 1.
  Division One: Group A: MSN-THT 5 BJSS 2; Group B: ATM Airod 3 SSTMI 1, PKS-KPM 1 UiTM 4, Nur Insafi 2 Politeknik 1.
  Women: Group A: ATM Pernama 4 Politeknik 0.
  SATURDAY: Division One: Group B: PKS-KPM v UniKL Young Guns (7pm, Pitch I).
  SUNDAY: Premier Division -- Sapura v KLHC (6pm, Pitch II), Terengganu v Maybank (Batu Buruk, 6pm), uniKL v Tenaga (8pm, Pitch II).
  Division One: Group A: MSP-YPSSP v BJSS (Kuantan, 5pm), MBI v MSNT-THT (Azlan Shah, 5pm); Group B: UiTM v UniKL Young Guns (5pm, Pitch I), Nur Insafi v SSTMI (Sg Petani, 5pm), ATM Airod v Politeknik (Tun Razak, 5pm).

THT& KLHC: No room for errors

MALAYSIA Hockey League (MHL) Premier Divison Leaders Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) believe they will be fighting the battles of their lives this weekend to keep their title hopes alive.

  KLHC top the standings on 19 points, just one point away from double champions Terengganu Hockey team, and hope to survive against UniKL today, and Sapura Sunday.

  "In Round One, both these matches were close as we drew 3-3 with Sapura and could only beat UniKL 1-0. I believe we will have to bring out our best to claim six points thiw weekend, and then only can we play for the final League fixture on Sept 4," said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.

  Sept 4 is when KLHC meet Terengganu HT (THT).

  As for THT they play their final three matches at home in Batu Buruk, starting with Tenaga today and Maybank Sunday.

  "If we maintain our form, and THT win both their matches, the last fixture against THT will decide the title. Thats why this weekend is seen as do-ro-die for both the teams," said Dharmaraj.

  THT have a good record playing at home, and their only blemish this season was 6-2 drubbing in the hands of KLHC in the curtain raiser Charity Shield match.

  "To say that we will have an easy time against UniKL is far-fetched, as even though they have 12 Project 2016 players, they have shown great determination and fighting spirit," said Dharmaraj.

  For the record, UniKL have yet to win or draw a match this season, but all their matches went to the wire.

  As for THT coach Sarjit Singh, he will be banking on home support: "The crowd at Batu Buruk has been simply great and with their backing, we hope to win all three matches and defend our title."

  RESULT: Premier Division -- Sapura x Maybank x.

  TODAY: Premier Division -- KLHC v UniKL (6pm, Pitch II), Terengganu HT v Tenaga (Batu Buruk, 6pm).

  Division One: Group A: MASUM USM v TNB Thunderbolts (KLHA, 5pm), MSN-THT v BJSS (batu Buruk, 4pm); Group B: ATM Airod v SSTMI (Tun Razak, 7pm), PKS-KPM v UiTM (5pm, Pitch I), Nur Insafi v Politeknik (Sg Petani, 5pm).

  Women: Group A: ATM Pernama v Politeknik (Tun Razsak, 5pm).

  TOMORROW: Division One: Group B: PKS-KPM v UniKL Young Guns (7pm, Pitch I).

  SUNDAY: Premier Division -- Sapura v KLHC (6pm, Pitch II), Terengganu v Maybank (Batu Buruk, 6pm), uniKL v Tenaga (8pm, Pitch II).

  Division One: Group A: MSP-YPSSP v BJSS (Kuantan, 5pm), MBI v MSNT-THT (Azlan Shah, 5pm); Group B: UiTM v UniKL Young Guns (5pm, Pitch I), Nur Insafi v SSTMI (Sg Petani, 5pm), ATM Airod v Politeknik (Tun Razak, 5pm).

PREMIER DIVISION

                  P     W       D       L       F       A       pts

 

KLHC                     7 6 1 0 20 9 19

TERENGGANU HT     7 6 0 1 25 11 18

SAPURA                     7 3 1 3 12 14 10

TENAGA            7 3 0 4 10 16 9

MAYBANK           6 1 0 5 8 16 3

UNIKL                  6 0 0 6 7 16 0

Koshy needs to do CPR on MHL

COLUMN 

by Jugjet Singh

WHILE the best will head for Hockey India League (HIL), the rest came to play in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).

  Just as this column was being written, in came an email and the intro was --  HIL to conduct auction for 135 Indian and 141 foreign players on Sept 17.

  Among the foreign players to be auctioned, Australian ace Jamie Dwyer's name stood out. Dwyer has played in four World Cups, and will be playing in his fourth Olympics in Rio de Janeiro after helping Australia become champions at the Belgium World League Semifinals.

  Five out of six teams in the Premier Division hired players from Argentina, Pakistan, Ireland, South Africa and Germany -- but the hired guns have yet to impress in any manner.

  Tenaga Nasional, the title sponsors, were the only team who believed in locals and they are doing much better than foreign-injected Sapura, Maybank and UniKL at the start of the Second Round.

  Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) and Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) are the only two teams in battle for the League title, and are on 19 and 18 points respectively after seven matches.

  The pretenders are Sapura (10 points), Tenaga (nine), Maybank (three) and yet-to-win-a-point UniKL.

  And even KLHC and THT are being carried by their local players, while their foreign imports are in the shadows.

  The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) had said at the start of the MHL that the foreign players are needed to inject prestige and also attract fans.

  However, the imports have failed in every department. The Premier Division matches at Bukit Jalil have yet to attract the desired number of fans, and in fact, 70 percent of those who come to watch the matches are family members and friends of players.

  Both the stadiums in Bukit Jalil only see about 100 to 200 'fans' turning up to watch the Premier Division matches, but the presence of hockey players from other teams waiting for the next match, adds to the numbers.

  Sadly, even MHC officials are normally missing from the stands.

  Nobody but KLHC and THT seem to be enjoying the spotlight, and a top MHC official said it all: "We tried everything to attract the fans, but failed."

  MHC Deputy President and Competitions Chairman George Koshy had promised drastic changes in the MHL when he went on his election rounds early this year.

  But he did not have enough time to implement them this season. Lets see if Koshy, who is also the KLHC team manager, can give this dead-end league a kiss of life, and make it as interesting and lucrative as the HIL.