ALL THE BEST...

NATIONAL Coach Stephen van Huizen

"Both of them are in good form and when they played for 30 minutes in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) this season, I could see that they were still the best and their form did not drop. For me, it was enough time to include them in the ACT but we will have to rely on the goodwill of Pulapol to release them.
  "However, I believe for national duty, and since the tournament in Malaysia -- there should be no problems," said van Huizen.
  For the record, Razie and Nabil turn out for Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) in the Premier Division of the MHL and have only played for 30 minutes against Sapura the entire season.
  "Against Sapura, even though both of them played only for 30 minutes, Razie scored two goals in their 3-0 win. This shows he is an invaluable player," said van Huizen.

Razie, Nabil sit out Australia HL debut...

MALAYSIA will field almost the entire national team in Tigers, their back-up in Blues and women's team in the Australian Hockey League (AHL) on Sept 26-Oct 10 in Perth.
  This is a milestone for for country, who aspire to play in the 2018 New Delhi World Cup, as well as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
  The senior squad will be called Tigers, and missing from the list announced yesterday by national coach Stephen van Huizen were inspector trainees Razie Rahim and Nabil Fiqri.
  "Yes we will be fielding an almost full side minus Nabil and Razie who are in training to become inspectors in Pulapol. This is because even though we have an understanding with Pulapol to let them out for national training and matches which concern Malaysia, they can't release trainees for overseas assignments," said van Huizen.
  Razie is the No 1 penalty corner flicker in the country while Nabil is a pillar in midfield for the nation.
  When asked if both of them would be released for the Asian Champions Trophy in Kuantan on Oct 20-30, van Huizen could not make a commitment.
  "Both of them are in good form and when they played for 30 minutes in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) this season, I could see that they were still the best and their form did not drop. For me, it was enough time to include them in the ACT but we will have to rely on the goodwill of Pulapol to release them.
  "However, I believe for national duty, and since the tournament in Malaysia -- there should be no problems," said van Huizen.
  For the record, Razie and Nabil turn out for Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) in the Premier Division of the MHL and have only played for 30 minutes against Sapura the entire season.
  "Against Sapura, even though both of them played only for 30 minutes, Razie scored two goals in their 3-0 win. This shows he is an invaluable player," said van Huizen.
   As for the Australian HL Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) Technical Director Terry Walsh Said: "After playing in a local league, the players will get a chance to compete in an overseas league and this is a huge step forward for Malaysia."
  The other foreign teams in the men's tournament are India and New Zealand.
  "Playing in the AHL, then the ACT and then the Azlan Shah Cup for the men and the World League in Singapore for the women are all part of the plan to qualify for the World Cup and Olympics.
  "While the men will face some difficulties, but not impossible ones to qualify for the world Cup, it would be much more harder for the women. But this AHL playing chance should come in as a very good experience to wards our future cause," said Walsh.
  Shukri Mutalib will skipper the Tigers, Baljit Singh will captain the Blues and Siti Noor Amarina will lead the women in Perth.
  Ten teams each will compete in the men's and women's AHL.

TNB CUP: ALL THE BEST...

Pic: Terengganu HT players celebrate their MHL League title after beating Tenaga 3-1 on Sunday.

CHAMPIONS Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) received an easier TNB Cup semi-finals draw when they were paired with fourth placed Maybank Monday.
  League runners-up Sapura will have a tougher time after drawing third-placed Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) in the other semi-finals.
  Both first-leg the semis will be held on Wednesday at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium, with the return leg on Friday.
  THT has the League title, Sapura the Alagendra Cup, KLHC the Charity Shield while Maybank is the only team without silverware yet this season.
  And THT are on a mission to complete their third consecutive double in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League.
  "Even though we have been paired with a team which finished fourth in the League, I believe it will not be an easy match as Maybank are, and have also shown in the last two seasons, that they are a fighting side," said THT coach Sarjit Singh.
  Sarjit remembers well, as THT played Maybank in both the previous TNB Cup semi-finals.
  "Coincidentally, we also played Maybank in the semi-finals of the TNB Cup in the last two seasons. And we lost both the first legs, and only qualified for the final by making a comeback in the second legs.
  "Maybank have also given every team in the MHL a good fight, and we need to play much better to win the first leg itself this season," said Sarjit.
  For the record, THT beat Maybank 5-1 and 5-2 in the League.
  Maybank team manager R. Premkumar said: "We have a development squad made up of youth and seniors as guide. It has been a close season for us, and I believe we have nothing to lose as underdogs in a two-leg semi-finals."
  Sapura coach Yahya Atan has done his homework, and is ready to face KLHC. KLHC won both the League matches 5-2 and 3-0.
  "We lost earlier after leting in two first quarter goals in both the matches, but after studying the match videos, I know what not to do against KLHC in the TNB Cup," said the experienced coach.
  Yahya will also be tightening his penalty corner run-outs, which were ineffective in the League against KLHC.
  As for KLHC team manager Ahmad Anuar Sham, he had a limited choice of either being paired against seeded sides Sapura, or THT.
  "Both the seeded teams are strong, so it really did not matter who we played in the semi-finals. We will have to give our best in both the legs to play in the final," said Ahmad.
   WEDNESDAY: TNB Cup semi-finals First Leg: Terengganu HT v Maybank (KLHA, 6pm), Sapura v Kuala Lumpur HC (KLHA, 8pm).
   President's Cup: TNB Thunderbolts v Politeknik (Tun Razak, 6pm), UiTM-KPT v SSTMI Tun Razak, 8pm).
   Vivian Soars Cup: Semi-finals: SSTMI v PKS-Uniten (Ministry of Education, 6pm), Blue Warriors v ATM Pernama (Ministry of Education, 8pm).

Terengganu HT League champions again...

TERENGGANU Hockey Team (THT) defended their Malaysia Hockey League Premier Division League title for the third consecutive year when they beat Tenaga Nasional 3-1 at the Batu Buruk Stadium Sunday.

  It was an unexpected title, as coach Sarjit Singh and his men were not in contention as the title charge was led by Sapura until the eighth match.

  Yesterday, Fitri Shaari (5th), Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (18th), Ismail Abu (32nd) delivered for THT while Ramadhan Rosli scored for Tenaga in the 33rd minute.

  THT received RM100,000 while second placed Sapura won RM60,000 and third placed Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) RM40,000.

  THT and Sapura will be seeded while KLHC and Maybank will draw lots today to decide who they play in the TNB Cup semi-finals which will he held on Wednesday.

  "We were not in contention after the first round matches but made a late charge in the second round to defend our League title. As I said before its easier to win a title that to defend it, and my players have won three consecutive League titles and I am very proud of them," said Sarjit.

  After Tenaga beat Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) 2-1 on Friday to put THT in contention for the title, Sarjit and his men played by the book yesterday.

  "There was no fancy play or trying too hard as we kept our composure and won the match. Now, we are looking forward to win our TNB Cup for the third consecutive year as well," said Sarjit.

  RESULTS -- Premier Division: Terengganu HT 3 Tenaga Nasional 1, Kuala Lumpur HC 4 UniKL 1, Sapura HC 2 Maybank 1.

  Division One:

  Quarter-finals Second Leg: 

  Nur Insafi 0 TNB Thunderbolts 5.

  (TNB Thunderbolts won on 8-1 aggregate)

  ATM Airod 2 SSTMI 1

  (SSTMI win on 6-4 aggregate)

  Ipoh City Council 3 v Uitm-KPT 2 

  (Aggregate 4-4, Uitm-KPT win shoot our 3-2)

  BJSS 1 Politeknik 5

  (Politeknik won on 8-3 aggregate)

PREMIER DIVISION

            P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts

THT         10 7  1  2  29 16 22

SAPURA      10 7  0  3  17 16 21

KLHC        10  6  2  2  30 14 20

MAYBANK     10 3  1  6  18 32 10

UNIKL       10  2  1  7  9  17 7

TENAGA      10 1  3  6  17 25 6

Kingmakers Tenaga control Gym...

AFTER only one win in nine League matches, Tenaga Nasional are now Kingmakers in the Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League.
  Tenaga lost five and drew three, but their awesome 2-1 win over League title contenders Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) on Friday has turned the tables upside down.
  From a hopeless situation, the Tenaga win, propelled Terengganu Hockey Team into the title limelight -- as they too beat Sapura 4-1 at Batu Buruk Friday.
  The maths for THT is easy, beat Tenaga Sunday at Batu Buruk and win the League title. THT can't afford to draw or lose, as Sapura and KLHC will be waiting to claim the title.
  "We have had some really close matches with one-goal separating us from the favourites this whole season. We even lost the Alagendra Cup 2-1 to Sapura.
  "And So, I told my players that we have nothing to lose in the last two League matches (as TNB are also out of the running for the Semi-finals of the TNB Cup) and play for the pride of the Club they represent.
  "We beat KLHC (2-1) for the first three points of the seson and now will play for another win against THT at their own den.
  "MY players have been trained not to fear any opponent. And even though we are the only team in the Premier Division without foreign players, our local lads have shown that they have promise in them," said Tenaga coach Amin Rahim.
  Double champions THT have had a really sorry start to the season as they lost the Charity Shield 2-1 to KLHC, and wer never at the top of the standings until Tenaga propelled them to the top.
  "Its easier to win a title than to defend it for the third-consecutive year. But now that we are in that position, I believe everything will fall our way again on Sunday," said THT coach Sarjit Singh.
  For the record, THT have been the double consecutive double champions. The two aces up Sarjit's sleeves are South Korean Jang Jong Hyun who has scored 10 penalty corner goals, and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin with five field and two penalty corner rebound goals to his name.
  Both are top two on the top-scorers list.
  THT, Sapura and KLHC have qualified for the TNB Cup semi-finals, while the final slot will be a decider between Maybank and UniKL today.
  SUNDAY -- Premier Division: Terengganu HT v Tenaga Nasional (Batu Buruk, 5.30pm), Kuala Lumpur HC v UniKL (KLHA, 8pm), Sapura HC v Maybank (Tun Razak, 6pm).
  Division One -- Quarter-finals Second Leg: Nur Insafi (1) v TNB Thunderbolts (3) (Sungai Petani, 5pm), ATM Airod (2) SSTMI (5) (Tun RAzak, 8pm), Ipoh City Council (1) v Uitm-KPT (2) (Azlan Shah, 6pm), BJSS (2) v Politeknik (3) (Ministry of Education, 6pm).
  Note: First Leg scores in parenthesis.


PREMIER DIVISION

            P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts

THT         9  6  1  2  26 15 19
SAPURA      9  6  0  3  15 15 18
KLHC        9  5  2  2  26 13 17
MAYBANK     9  3  1  5  17 30 10
UNIKL       9  2  1  6  8  13 7
TENAGA      9  1  3  5  16 22 6