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Pic: Olak-NurInsafi manager Joseph de Silva.
OLD La Sallians Asociation of Klang (Olak) are crying foul because they are not being allowed to change two players for the Junior Hockey League which begins end of March.
Olak, who have re-branded themselves as Olak-NurInsafi, are even ready to pull out of the tournament if they are not allowed to do so.
"We understand that the registration of players closed on March 15 and we did submit our name list. However, two of our players can't make it due to various reasons and I applied on compassion grounds to make changes.
"But the Tournament Director rejected it saying that he will follow the rules and we need to show a medical cert to make changes. This boys have different problems, and we feel victimised, as we have been given the run-around on a small matter," said Olak-NurInsafi manager Joseph de Silva.
De Silva is also peeved that after approving the JHL fixtures to start on March 31, he received an email stating that three matches on that day, including Olak's, will be postponed to allow sports school boys to play in the Asian Under-18 Schools Championship in India.
"I received the email on March 25, saying that March 31 matches will be postponed to the end of the JHL because of the Asian Schools tournament.
"We have already made bookings for accommodation and travel as we were slated to play in Johor Baru on Friday (at SSTMI) and on Sunday in Batu Pahat.
"I believe since they want us to cancel our bookings and travel arrangements and pay a fine, the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) should also hear our case before making a blanket judgement.
"Olak are the JHL pioneers and we will be playing in our 22nd year in the JHL. if the MHC can't show some compassion towards us, we might as well withdraw," said De Silva.
Another team is also facing the same predicament, as they can't replace a player who went AWOL after signing the consent form.
JHL Tournament Director P. Kuganesan said he is just going by the book.
"As all are aware, registration closed on March 15 and players can only be replaced if the team management can provide a medical certificate to state that he is not fit, or injured and can't play.
"As for the Asian Schools, I was informed by the Ministry of Education that sports school players from BJSS Thunderbolts, Pahang SS-Thunderbolts, and SSTMI-Thunderbolts will be in India for the tournament.
"As such, we had to postpone three matches involving these teams on the first day of the JHL season.
"Olak or other teams with these problems can approach higher ranked officials in the MHC if they feel they are being victimised," said Kuganesan.
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.
