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DEFENDING champions Malacca got off to a good start in Division One of the 54th Razak Cup when they beat Pahang 3-1 at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
And in another Division One match, newly promoted Police edged Johor 3-2, with a brace from national skipper Razie Rahim who joined Police training on May 8.
The Malacca goals were scored by Nur Asyraf (38th) and Amirullah Zainol (53rd, 60th). Skipper Ismail Abu scored for Pahang in the 59th minute.
As for Police, they were down 0-2 before Baljit Singh Sarjab scored in the 39th minure, and Razie gave them the three points off penalty corner attempts in the 40th and 41st minutes.
The johor goals were scored by Izzwan mohamed in the 23rd and Azammi Adabi in the 33rd minute.
Meanwhile in Division Two Group B, Sabah began their campaign in the TNB Razak Cup with a convincing 5-0 win over Armed Forces.
And in the other men's Division Two matches played yesterday, Selangor thrashed Kedah 8-0 while Penang beat Perlis 7-3 in Group A. In the other Group B match, Kelantan trounced Sarawak 6-2.
In women's Group A, Selangor defeated Sarawak 5-2 and Johor edged Police 2-1 while in Group B, Sabah were 4-1 winners over Negri Sembilan and Armed Forces walked away with a 3-1 victory over Terengganu.
Sabah started the match on a cautious note, but began to assert themselves as the half progressed and raced to a 3-0 lead before the break as their speedy forward line began to dominate the Forces defence.
They went ahead through a Dodi Musa field goal in the 21st minute and were 2-0 up a minute later when Forces keeper Khairul Afendy Kamaruzaman's poor clearance allowed Shello Selverius to pick up the loose ball and smash it into the back of the net.
Captain Maxhans Christi made it 3-0 with a well taken penalty stroke in the 26th minute. Dodi got his brace in the 36th and Shello wrapped the win in the 54th minute.
Sabah coach Hasrul Jidih, who drafted seven players from Sabah's Junior Hockey League squad, was happy with the result and the way his young team performed.
"The boys played well and performed much better than expected because a 5-0 win against a strong opponent like Armed Forces is something to cherish.
"We have a young squad and the target is to make the semi-finals," added Hasrul whose charges will play Sarawak next on Monday.
RESULTS: Division One: Group A: Malacca 3 Pahang 1, Johor 2 Police 3.
Division Two: Group A: Selangor 8 Kedah 0, Perlis 3 Penang 7; Group B: Kelantan 6 Sarawak 2, Armed Forces 0 Sabah 5.
Women: Group A: Sarawak 2 Selangor 5, Police 1 Johor 2; Group B: Negri Sembilan 1 Sabah 4, Armed Forces 3 Terengganu 1.
TODAY: Divison One: Group B: Perak v Negri Sembilan (8pm, Pitch I), Kuala Lumpur v Terengganu (8pm, Pitch II).
Division Two: Group A: Kedah v Penang (6pm, Pitch I), Selangor v Perlis (6pm, Pitch II).
Women: Group C: Malacca v Perak (7.30am, Pitch I), Penang v Kedah (7.30am, Pitch II); Group A: Sarawak v Johor (9.30am, Pitch I), Pahang v Selangor (9.30am, Pitch II); Group B: Negri Sembilan v Terengganu (4pm, Pitch I), Kuala Lumpur v Sabah (4pm, Pitch
II).
MALACCA will be out to defend their Division One Razak Cup title starting this weekend, but first, they have to shoot down favourites Police.
Police, who won the Division Two title last season, won not only promotion but also gained national skipper Razie Rahim and midfielder Nabil Fiqri.
Both of the joined Police training on May 8, but have received release letters to play in the Razak Cup.
Police will also have former national players Baljit Singh Sarjab, who scored 17 goals last season, Kelvinder Singh, Jivan Mohan and Megat Azrafiq.
"With the inclusion of the country's No 1 drag flicker Razie, I believe we have a good chance of finishing top-four in Division One," said former national player Gurmit Singh who will be coaching Police.
Police are in Group A with defending champions Malacca, Johor and Pahang. In Group B are Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Terengganu and Negri Sembilan.
‘Malacca Hurricanes’, as they are better known, won the Razak Cup in 2005, repeated the feat in 2009 and defeated Perak 1-0 in the 2015 final for only their third title. They open their Division One campaign against Pahang Saturday which also sees Johor playing Police.
Malacca skipper B. Namasivayam said: “Our early target is to qualify for the semi-finals. There are no easy matches as every team is geared up strongly for the Razak Cup.”
“The Police team is also in our group and we are certainly expecting tough matches ahead," said Namasivayam.
In the men's Division Two Group A are Penang, Selangor, Kedah, Perlis and in Group B are Armed Forces, Kelantan, Sarawak and Sabah.
The prize money for Division One is RM10,000 for the champion, RM7,000 for runner-up and RM5,000 for finishing third. Division Two winner gets RM5,000, runners-up RM3,000 and third-placed team RM2,000.
The women's Razak Cup will make its debut, 53 years after the men's tournament was incepted in 1963.
A total of 12 state teams alongside Police and Armed Forces will compete in the inaugural women's league, bringing the total number of teams to 14 divided into three groups. Only Kelantan and Perlis have opted out.
Pahang, Sarawak, Police, Johor and Selangor are in Group A. Kuala Lumpur, Negri Sembilan, Armed Forces, Terengganu and Sabah are Group B while Malacca, Perak, Penang and Kedah are in Group C.
The women’s champions will receive RM5,000, runners-up RM3,000 and RM2,000 for finishing third.
THE Asian Hockey Federation (AHF), in a meeting in Dubai yesterday, confirmed Malaysia as the hosts for the Fourth Edition of the Asian Champions Trophy.
The tournament will be held in Kuantan on Oct 20-30, and will award International Hockey Federation (FIH) ranking points for the first time.
Malaysia will be up against defending champions India, Pakistan, Japan, South Korea, China, and Bangladesh. The top-three teams will receive ranking points.
For the record, Malaysia finished fourth in all three earlier editions.
The AHF meeting was chaired by president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, and it was also decided that countries which do not compete in the Asian Games, Asia Cup and Asian Champions Trophy will not be allowed to play in the relevant qualifiers for the World Cup and Olympics.
The Asian Games and Asia Cup will remain as a qualifier for the World Cup and Olympics.
The women's Asian Champions Trophy will be held in Singapore on Oct 29-Nov 6, and coach K. Dharmaraj's ladies will compete against India, South Korea, China and Japan.
October if set t be a 'hockey fest' as the Sultan of Johor Cup will be held a day after the Asian Champions Trophy in Johor Baru.
The junior invitational, on Oct 31-Nov 6, will showcase teams which has qualified for the New Delhi Junior World Cup. Malaysia, the only odd one out who did not qualify, will be up against Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan and England.
All the three Malaysian teams competing in these tournaments will be playing in the Australian National League in September/October.
THE Malaysian Under-16 team ended their Whitsun Cup campaign on a laudable note when they came back from 1-4 to hold Germany Under-17 5-5 in Mannheim yesterday.
But the 'Malaysian Syndrome' of letting in last minute goals came back to haunt even this squad which is in its infant stage of preparing for the 2020 Junior World Cup.
After a mammoth come-back, Malaysia took a 5-4 lead, but with one minute remaining on the clock, the Germans scored the equaliser.
On Sunday night, they bungled two penalty strokes when they lost 3-1 to Netherlands in their second match. Malaysia were drubbed 6-1 by Germany Under-16 in the first match.
Malaysia got their goals off Akhimullah Anuar (two goals), Arif Syafie, Zafri Afiq and Amirul Hamizan.
Coach Nor Saiful Zaini said his charges played their best match of the tournament.
"It was great to see the boys come back into the match after going 1-4 down. We were sharper in attack but could have fared better defensively. Our goals were results of well taken chances. I also must give credit to the goalkeeper (Helmi Fazli, from Bukit Jalil Sports School) who made some very good saves", said Saiful.
Malaysia ended the tournament with 1 point, after losing their first 2 matches to Germany U16 (1-6) and Holland (1-3).
"The boys understand the demands of international youth hockey. They responded fairly well to several new ideas and this will augur well for us in the future. Overall, I believe this tour has served us well in understanding the players we have and the areas we need to work on collectively".
And the major concern for Saiful, as seen in the first two matchers, were the goalkeeping and strike-force department.
The other goalkeeper is Hamiz Ahir from Temerloh Sports School.
"The departments that needs urgent improvement are goalkeeping and scoring. Both the goalkeepers were guilty of letting in soft, very soft, goals in the first two matches. We also bungled more than 10 scoring chances in both the matches.
"Also, we failed to score two penalty strokes against Netherlands, which could have turned the tables on the Dutch."
According to Saiful, Malaysia were always on top of the three teams, on possession and penalty corner's won, and the scoreline does not reflect the actual game atmosphere.
Malaysia miss TWO PENALTY STROKES... more to follow
