ACT: Pakistan 1 Malaysia 0,, til we meet again Saturday

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will play Pakistan in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat, Oman on Saturday.
  The national players ended third on the standings at the end of the pool matches, after they lost to Pakistan 1-0 Thursday.
  It was Malaysia's only defeat of the tournament as in previous matches, hey started with a 3-0 win over Japan, followed by 3-1 win over Oman, 4-2 over South Korea and a 0-0 draw against India.
  India topped the pool unbeaten, and will play Japan in the other semi-finals.
  "Sport is very simple, you can’t win Matches if you don’t score. We didn’t in the last two matches. One time without conceding (0-0 with India) and one time we didn’t put enough efforts in our counter control.
  "I believe we’ll see a match on a different pace (in the semi-finals against Pakistan again) and I’m convinced we’ll score goals in the upcoming match.
  "If you play a semi-final, you always be able to give something extra. You can’t focus on the outcome, but you can on the right approach and execution of the plans," said Malaysia coach Roelant Oltmans.
   Pakistan manager Hasan Sardar said: "“It was important for my men to taste victory against an opponent whom we will face again in the semi-finals two days later.”
   The only difference in the pool encounter was Muhammad Irfan 54th minute goal, otherwise Malaysia had a good outing but failed to nail sitters.

FINAL STANDINGS
  
         P      W       D       L       F      A        Pts


India 5 4 1 0 27 2 13
Pakistan 5 3 1 1 14 8 10
Malaysia 5 3 1 1 10 6 10
Japan 5 2 1 2 8 13 7
Korea 5 1 0 4 8 15 3
Oman 5 0 0 5 4 31 0

ACT: Malaysia 0 Pakistan 1.. rematch in semis Saturday

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's unbeaten run in the Asian Champions Trophy was finally broken when Pakistan won 1-0 in Muscat, Oman, Thursday.
  The solitary goal was scored by Muhammad Irfan in the 54th minute off a field attempt.
  However, the last pool match for coach Roelant Oltmans men was more of a warm-up ahead of the semi-finals on Saturday, where both the teams will meet again.
  The other semi-finals is between table toppers India and fourth placed Japan.
  Malaysia and Pakistan both completed the pool matches with 10 points, but Pakistan finished second due to more goals scored.
   The national players started the ACT with a 3-0 win over Japan, followed by 3-1 win over Oman, 4-2 over South Korea and a 0-0 draw against India.

Razak Cup: MHC accept Negri, Perlis and Kedah pull out..

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) competitions committee decided to stick with their Razak Cup rules, and accepted the withdrawal of three teams at the 11th hour.

  The Razak Cup begins today (Friday) with a change in format as well as fixtures after Division One saw Negri Sembilan and Perlis pulling out, while Kedah withdrew from Division Two.

  The three men's teams withdrew because they felt that even though many of their players had other states' Identity Card numbers, but the players were developed by them over the years and so they had a right to field them.

  The MHC competitions committee stuck by the Razak Cup rules which state that each team can only register four guest players.

  "The three teams wrote to MHC about their decision to withdraw and the MHC competitions committee has accepted, and so I re-drew the fixtures and now the men's Division One and Two will be run on a round robin format where the top-two teams will play in the final," said Razak Cup tournament director P. Kuganesan.

  According to Kuganesan, none of the other states raised any issues at the managers meeting yesterday (Thursday).

  Division one men's defending champions Perak will lead the charge while the other states are Terengganu, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor.

  In the men's Division Two are Selangor, Armed Forces, Pahang, Singapore, Kelantan and Police.

  The women's Group A has Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca Police ans Singapore while in Group B are Pahang, Armed Forces, Terengganu and Penang.

  Friday: Women's Group B: Pahang v Terengganu (7.30am, Pitch II), Armed Forces v Penang (7.30am, Pitch I).

  Group A: Malacca v Singapore (9.30am, Pitch II), Selangor v Kuala Lumpur (9.30am, Pitch I).

  Men's Division Two -- Selangor v Armed Forces (4pm, Pitch I), Pahang v Singapore (4pm, Pitch II), Kelantan v Police (6pm, Pitch I).

  Note: All matches at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Razak Cup: Kedah and Negri withdraw.. Perlis in two minds.

PIC: Negri Sembilan team manager S. Chandran.

KUALA LUMPUR: The second oldest hockey tournament in the country was thrown into turmoil at the 11th hour, as two teams have withdrawn while one more is waiting for an appeal.
  The problem is player-eligibility rule which was introduced a month ago after the closing date of entries.
  The 56th Razak Cup will start at the Bukit Jalil Stadium Friday, but Division One team Negri Sembilan and Division Two team Kedah have written in to the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) to withdraw their teams.
  Perlis, in Division One, is still waiting for an appeal to be considered by MHC.
  However, it looks like the three states can say goodbye to their Razak Cup hopes, as MHC Competitions Committee manager Brian Fernandez when asked if they will relax the rule said: "It's the states' prerogative if they wish to participate or not."
  Negri Sembilan team manager S. Chandran said in the end, the players will become victims of a rigid rule.
  "After the entries closed we were informed of a new eligibility rule where only four guest players are allowed per-team while the rest must be born in their respective states.
  "More than half of our boys were born in other states but have been studying and staying in Negri Sembilan for a long time. In fact, they are a product of our development programme.
  "Only their Identity Card number shows that they were born in another state (normally the mother's state).
  "So, we did appeal to the MHC Competitions Committee to relax the rule but they stood their ground. And so, we have no choice to withdraw even though all the players played for Negri in the recent Malaysia Games," said Chandran.
  The Razak Cup team managers meeting is Thursday.
  Kedah HA secretary B. Sandra Gesan had the same problem.
  "Half our team is born at other states but we are the ones who developed them. So we had no choice but to withdraw," said Sandra.
  Perlis team manager Mohamed Shurizat said they are still waiting: "We are also facing the same problem like Kedah and Negri, as half of our boys are born at other states as well. If there is no favourable reply from the Competitions Committee, we will be forced to withdraw as we do not want to be whipping boys in Division One."
  For the record, the oldest hockey tournament in the country is the Gurdwara Cup which has been held for 67 years without a single break.

ACT: Malaysia beat South Korea 4-2

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia did just enough to beat South Korea 4-2 in the Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat, Oman, Tuesday morning.
  The win gave coach Roelant Oltmans team nine points after three matches and they have qualified for the semifinals with India and Pakistan matches in hand.
  Malaysia took the lead off Firhan Ashaari in the 11th minute, but Korea fought back with two from Yang Jihun (15th) and Jang Jong Hyun (20th).
  However, goals from Shahril Saabah (22nd), Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (35th) and Faizal Shaari (57th) handed Malaysia full points.
  In earlier matches, Malaysia had beaten Japan 3-0 and Oman 3-1. South Korea on the other hand had lost to Pakistan 3-1 and Japan 2-0.