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Pic: Kirandeep Kaur
FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD Kirandeep Kaur Gurdip Singh led a dramatic Kuala Lumpur fightback to beat Sabah 4-3 in the final of the National Under-16 tournament at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium yesterday.
Sabah took a 2-0 lead but a strong second half handed Kuala Lumpur girls their first ever Under-16 title since the inception of the tournament in 2008.
Kirandeep scored two goals in the 28th and 45th minutes, while the other goals were scored by Nur Syaza Afiqah (15th), Hasya Syahida Saifuddin (34th).
Sabah were unfortunate, as they took a 2-0 lead off Cyra Cynthia Anis (11th) and Inka Shafika Juani (14th) before they collapsed under pressure. The other goal was scored by Cyra Cynthia Anis in the 33rd minute.
"When we were two goals down, there was tremendous pressure on us to make a comeback, but I kept pushing from midfield and team-work won us the title," said Kirandeep.
KL coach A. Kannagi, a former international, attributed the win to strong minds.
"My girls never gave up, and fought till the final whistle and that was what separated us from Sabah who had shown a real solid form in this tournament," said Kannagi.
RESULTS: Boys' Final -- Perak 1 Terengganu 0; Third-Fourth: Pahang 2 Sabah 1; Fifth-Sixth: Malacca 2 Negri Sembilan 0.
Girls' Final: Sabah 3 Kuala Lumpur 4; Third-Fourth: Selangor 3 Johor 1; Fifth-Sixth: Penang 5 Negri Sembilan 0.
SABAH Girls' took a step closer to playing in the final of the National Under-16 hockey tournament when they came back from a goal down to beat Johor 2-1.
Nor Aina Najwa gave Johor a ninth minute lead, but a brace from Cyra Cynthia Anis in the 50th and 58th minutes handed Sabah the crucial three points.
Sabah team manager Ibrisham Nadzri was not happy with the way his girls played in the first two quarters.
"We lost control of the match for two quarters, but recovered after the rain came pouring down (at half-time). But we can't afford the same attitude against Negri Sembilan tomorrow (today) if we want to play in the final," said Ibrisham.
In the Round Two of the tournament, the top two teams in the boys and girls groups are divided into Group X and Y after an open draw. The winners in both the groups advance to the final.
RESULTS -- Boys' Group X: Pahang 2 Malacca 1; Group Y: Sabah 2 Perak 4.
Girls' Group X: Kuala Lumpur 2 Selangor 0; Group Y: Johor 1 Sabah 2.
FRIDAY -- Boys' Group X: Malacca v Terengganu (KLHA, 7pm); Group Y: Perak v Negri (KPM, 7pm).
Girls' Group X: Selangor v Penang (KLHA, 5pm); Group Y: Sabah v Negri (KPM, 5pm).
ROUND TWO STANDINGS
BOYS'
GROUP X
P W D L F A Pts
PAHANG 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
MALACCA 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
T'GGANU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GROUP Y
P W D L F A Pts
PERAK 1 1 0 0 4 2 3
SABAH 1 0 0 1 2 4 0
NEGRI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GIRLS'
GROUP X
P W D L F A Pts
K LUMPUR 1 1 0 0 2 0 3
SELANGOR 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
PENANG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GROUP Y
P W D L F A Pts
SABAH 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
JOHOR 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
NEGRI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NEGRI SEMBILAN and Sabah were the biggest winners as the National Under-16 hockey tournament entered the medal rounds.
Both the state's Girls' and Boys' teams moved into the knock-out stage with Sabah boys and girls emerging tops in their respective groups.
Negri girls and boys did just enough to finish second in both their groups, but will now have a chance to play in the final.
Fourteen boys and 13 girls teams are competing in the tournament, and the top-two teams in each of the three groups advance to the knock out stage where a fresh competition is held to decide the champions.
Yesterday, in the final group match, Sabah girls showed their prowess when they hammered Kelantan 5-1 even though they had topped the group before entering the pitch.
The Sabah goals were scord by Inka Shafika Juani (eighth), Nor Asfarina Isahyifiqa (10th), Nur Sabrinah (22nd), Felliana John (25th) and Cyra Cynthia Anis (51st).
Nur Alya Iwana scored for Kelantan in the 38th minute.
RESULTS -- Boys' Group A: Johor 3 Kedah 1, Penang 1 Negri 5; Group B: Perak 3 Perlis 2, Malacca 4 Sarawak 2.
GIRLS' Group A: Kedah 2 Sarawak 2, Sabah 5 Kelantan 1; Group B: Penang 6 Negri 1, Terengganu 0 Pahang 10.
WEDNESDAY -- Boys' Group X: Pahang v Malacca (KPM, 7pm); Group Y: Sabah v Perak (KLHA, 7pm).
Girls' Group X: Kuala Lumpur v Selangor (KPM, 5pm); Group Y: Johor v Sabah (KLHA, 5pm).
GROUPINGS -- Boys' Group X: Malacca, Terengganu, Pahang; Group Y: Perak Negri Sembilan, Sabah.
Girls' Group X: Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang; Group Y: Johor, Sabah, Negri Sembilan.
Note: All matches at Jalan Pantai, Kuala Lumpur.
SABAH Boys' and Girls' made the next round of the National Under-16 without losing any match, and aim to make the finals this year.
The boys won bronze last year by beating Pahang 1-0, while Sabah girls are a revelation as they ended ninth, but are in stunning form a year later.
Tuesday, Sabah girls beat defending champions Selangor 4-0, and top Group A with a match in hand against Kelantan today. The scorers were Inka Shafika Juani (19th), Kersimah Kauran (33rd, 53rd) and Syunita Manap (47th).
Sabah HA secretary Avtar Singh said they will field reserves against Kelantan.
"The group job is done, as we will remain tops whatever the outcome against Kelantan, so we will try out our resrve players before the knock-out stage," said Avtar.
Fourteen boys and 13 girls teams are competing for titles, and have been divided into three groups in each gender.
The top-two teams in each group will be divided into two groups of three teams each in an open draw and the group champions play in the final, while runners-up for bronze.
"These boys and girls are product of Sabah 1Mas who were then placed in the Sabah Sports School from Form One onward. Over the years, we have managed to slowly train them and are now looking forward to both our teams playing in the final of this tournament," said Avtar.
RESULTS: Boys' Group A: Penang 0 Terengganu 2, Negri 4 Kedah 0; Group B: Perak 0 Selangor 3, Perlis 3 Sarawak 0.
GIRLS' Group A: Sabah 4 Selangor 0, Kelantan 4 Sarawak 1; Group B: Pahang 1 Negri 2, Terengganu 1 Penang 11; Group C: Perak 2 Malacca 3, Johor 0 Kuala Lumpur 2.
WEDNESDAY -- Boys' Group A: Johor v Kedah (KPM, 5pm), Penang v Negri (KLHA, 5pm); Group B: Perak v Perlis (KLHA, 3pm), Malacca v Sarawak (KPM, 3pm).
GIRLS' Group A: Kedah v Sarawak (KPM, 7.30am), Sabah v Kelantan (KLHA< 7.30am); Group B: Penang v Negri (KPM, 9.15am), Terengganu v Pahang (KLHA, 9.15am).
Note: All matches at Jalan Pantai, Kuala Lumpur.
Pic: Selangor's Nur Farah Hanis scored five goals to date...
GIRLS' Under-16 champions Selangor romped away with their third win, when they hit Sarawak 4-0 Monday.
However, the will face their Group A nemesis in Sabah Tuesday, in what coach Azman Ali believes will be their toughest hurdle.
Selangor had earlier hammered Kelantan 7-0 and Kedah 4-1.
"So far, the tournament has been going great for us, but I believe to top Group A, we must beat Sabah who have also showed an impressive form," said Azman.
Selangor's Nur Farah Hanis is the tournament top-scorer with six goals, and she is only 14-years-old.
"She also played for Selangor last year and after three matches here, she has scored five field and one penalty corner goal. This girl has plenty of talent in her considering her age," said Azman.
And who does Azman fear in this season?
"It has to be Kuala Lumpur. They have shown great determination, and the girls are well prepared. We hope not to cross their path in the knock-out (open draw) and only face them in the final," said Azman.
RESULTS -- Boys' Group A: Negri 1 Johor 1, Kedah 1 Terengganu 9; Group B: Perlis 0 Malacca 3, Sarawak 2 Selangor 2; Group C: Kelantan 4 Pahang 6, Kuala Lumpur 0 Sabah 2.
Girls' Group A: Kelantan 5 Kedah 0, Sarawak 0 Selangor 4; Group C: Kuala Lumpur 2 Malacca 0, Johor 1 Perak 0.
TUESDAY: Boys' Group A: Penang v Terengganu (KPM, 5pm), Negri v Kedah (KLHA, 5pm); Group B: Perak v Selangor (KPM, 7pm), Perlis v Sarawak (KLHA, 7pm).
GIRLS' Group A: Sabah v Selangor (KPM, 7,30am), Kelantan v Sarawak (KLHA, 7.30am); Group B: Pahang v Negri (KPM, 9,15am), Terengganu v Penang (KLHA, 9.15am); Group C: Perak v Malacca (KPM, 3pm), Johor v Kuala Lumpur (KLHA, 3pm).
Note: All matches at Jalan Pantai, Kuala Lumpur.
