Sapura plan for upset

S. KUHAN: Will play a big role for Sapura in the semi-finals of the MHL.

THE Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division semi-finals today will see four equally balanced teams battling for the TNB Cup, which comes with an RM60,000 carrot to aspire the champions.
The pretenders fell by the wayside in the quarters, where some atrocious aggregate scores were registered, but quality is assured in the last-four stage.
League champions and early favourites Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club will meet Sapura, while Tenaga Nasional against Maybank and the fans can expect some exciting hockey at the Tun Razak Stadium.
In fact, to encourage fans to travel to the Stadium, instead of sitting on their comfortable sofas and watching live on television, the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) will arrange for lucky draws which could land lucky fans with motorcycles and flight tickets.
“The MHF would like to invite hockey fans to the stadium, where entrance is free, but they can buy lucky draw numbers for RM2 each.
“We have two Modenas motorcycles, sponsored by DRB Hicom, and 10 AirAsia tickets to local and foreign des tinations, as well as hockey sticks and national hockey players’ jerseys as prizes,” said MHF secretary Hashim Yusoff.
The lucky draw tickets will be on sale from the second leg onwards at the Tun Razak Stadium, and can also be pur chased at the MHF office in Bukit Jalil after that. The draw will be made during the final on Feb 12.
KLHC, with nine national players, will be team to beat: “I have noticed that when teams play us, they somehow being out their best, and so I believe even with some of the best players in the country, it will not be easy for us in the semi- finals,” said KLHC coach R. Vivekanandan.
Sapura stand in the League champions path, and skipper S. Kuhan believes strategy, and not quality of players will determine the outcome at this stage.
“Our coach (S. Prakash) has come up with a sound plan for the first leg, and I believe KLHC are in for a fight of their lives. Obviously Sapura players as a whole, are slower than KLHC players, and we can’t match them in speed.
“So, part of the plan which I can reveal today is that we will slow down the match and play possession hockey to bring the match to our level,” said Kuhan, a former national skipper.
Then there was good news for Maybank and bad news for Tenaga Nasional in their other semi-finals.
Maybank defender K. Gobinathan, who was out with a pulled hamstring in the quarters, will be back in action.
“Gobi had a 7cm tear and we missed him in the quarters, but after he went for an injection to seal it, he has recovered enough to help his team-mates in the semis,” said Maybank coach S. Velappan.
Without Gobi, a former international, the Maybank de fense was porous and they had a tough time against a young UniKL-Ibil outfit in the quarters.
As for Tenaga, who like Maybank have been consistently paying in the MHL since its inception in 1987, they lost their skipper Sallehin Ghani to a fracture, thrusting Tajol Rosli into the limelight.
“Missing a steady hand like Sallehin is a big blow for us, and taking over form him is a big responsibility. But I am game, because I have dedicated team-mates who are de termined to play in the final and make a go for the TNB,” said Tajol, a former national striker.
FIXTURES: TODAY -- Semi-finals, First Leg: Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club v Sapura (4.30pm); Tenaga Nasional v Maybank (6.30pm).
TOMORROW -- Semi-finals, Second Leg: Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (4.30pm), Sapura v Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (6.30pm).
All Matches at the Tun Razak Stadium, and entrance is free.

Egypt makes a return

EGYPT is among the seven teams which have confirmed their entries for the Azlan Shah Cup on May 6-16 at the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh.
World No 2 Australia will be the team to beat for the title, while Malaysia will also get a sparring chance against India, Pakistan, South Korea, China and Egypt.
In last year’s edition, India defeated Malaysia 3-1 in the final.
MHF vice-president Datuk Dr. S.S. Cheema said even though the MHF are still looking for a foreign coach, Tai Beng Hai will start training the national players after the Malaysia Hockey League ends.
“Beng Hai will train the national players while the MHF continue talks with sponsors and the foreign coach. And we will announce the details on the foreign coach soon, as we too want him to arrive early and have more time to train the team for the Commonwealth and Asian Games,” said Dr Cheema.

Prakash: Forum to make MHL better

The Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru is void of fans when the MHL paid them a visit. About 100 to 200 people were at most of the stadiums where MHL was played, and this included the players, their families, officials and television crew.

COMMENT By Jugjet Singh

BUKIT Jalil Sports School coach S. Prakash is all for a forum to plan for next season’s Malaysia Hockey League, and the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) should be ready to face brick-bats, as well as accolades.
Prakash is the official coach for Sapura in the MHL, and he personally feels the MHL is a success in some areas, but a flop in others.
“A forum should be held after the MHL ends where the MHF invite all those who have a interest in it for an open discussion to make the next season a greater success.
“Since this is the first season for a new format, and travelling, there were some glitches which could be rectified in the next season,” said Prakash after his team qualified for the semi-finals on a 4-2 aggregate.
One of the areas that need attention is how to bring back fan support.
“Of course athletes savour crowd support, but it has been lacking at all the stadia that we had played in. There were hardly any supporters at some stadiums, while singer Ella did manage to bring in a crowd at the Malacca stadium,” said Prakash.
The quarter-finals at the Tun Razak Stadium was a classic example, as only hockey players and their families, MHF officials and television crew made up the 100-odd at the stadium.
And before the forum, interested parties should be give one week to submit their recommendations and suggestions, so that time would not be wasted debating in all directions.
“I believe many coaches and managers of the MHL have constructive ideas which could be turned into reality next season.
“After all, we are only interested in promoting hockey on and off the pitch, and we believe more could be done to make things smoother,” said Prakash.
Meanwhile, on another note, Asian giants South Korea indicated that they are almost ready for the New Delhi World Cup when they beat Australia 2-1 in the third Test in Hobart.
South Korea showed great progress in the three-Test series as they lost the first match 5-1, narrowed the losing margin to 3-2 in the next and then beat the Aussies at their own backyard in Hobart.
South Korea were semi-finals in 2006 in Mönchenglad bach, Germany, and ended the tournament fourth. Germany were champions, Australia the silver medallists and Spain the bronze medallists.
South Korea were also fourth in the 2002 Kuala Lumpur World Cup, where Germany, Australia and Netherlands took gold, silver and bronze.
And the Koreans are the best bet among the other Asian teams, India and Pakistan, to again give the European teams and Australia a run for their money.
Now that is progress, and it must have been meticulously planned for decades, and more importantly, the Koreans did not rely on foreign coaches to be where they are today.

Maybank squeeze into semis

Sapura’s Jiwa Mohan (left) tussles with Nur Insafi’s S.Kamalanaathen for the ball in their second leg quarter-final match yesterday. Nur Insafi won 1-0 but Sapura advanced into the semi-finals on a 4-2 aggregate. — Pic: OSMAN ADNAN

MAYBANK just made it to the semi-finals of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Pemier Division when they edged UniKL-IBIL 2-0 in the second leg quarter-final at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday. The Tigers had an aggregate of 5-3 and will face Tenaga Nasional who hammered UiTM 7-0 for a 9-0 aggregate win.
In the other quarters, Sapura, who already have a 4-1 cushion, took it easy in the return leg and lost 1-0 to Nur Insafi but advanced 4-2 on aggregate to play Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club in the semi-finals.
KLHC, who hammered ATM-Airod 10-2 in the first leg, beat them 7-3 to qualify on a 17-5 aggregate.
Maybank took the lead in the 13th minute when Hairul Nizam was on target off a penalty corner, and Hairul delivered again in the 60th minute to seal the match.
However, Maybank coach S. Valappan agreed that is was not an easy win.

"UniKL deserve credit for playing good hockey but we had experience on our side and that counted. It was a shaky match after we took the lead as UniKL had many chances and could have levelled the score.
"We took the tough route as we squandered many penalty corner chances and will have to work on that in the next week for the semis," said Velappan.
UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran said Maybank players were clever in generating faults, which killed his team's chances.
"Some of the faults which earned Maybank the goals and also crucial penalty corners were results of manufactured faults.
"Maybank players fell even though my players did not have any contact with them. But that is part of the game, and I accept the defeat in good spirit," said Vickneswaran.
However, considering his team have an average age of 22, Vickneswaran feels there is future in this team.
"If this set of players are kept together and play again in the MHL next season, I believe they will be the team to watch."
Tenaga Nasional, who had a 2-0 cushion from the first leg, let loose their forwards and nailed seven more goals.

Amin Rahim (eighth, 69th), Izwan Firdaus (10th, 46th), Shazril Irwan (48th, 58th) and Anwar Ali (62nd) delivered for Tenaga.

Maybank held by tireless UniKL-Ibil

Nur Insafi goalkeeper Bharat Kumar Chetri (left) blocks an attempt by Sapura’s Muhamamad Marhan Mohd Jalil in their MHL Premier Division first leg quarter-final match at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday. Sapura won 4-1. Pic: OSMAN ADNAN

UNIKL-IBIL wore down Maybank with their blistering pace before snatching a 3-3 draw in the first leg quarter-final of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division at Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
The youthful side, with an average age of 22, held a 2-1 lead for 20 minutes, before almost collapsing due to lack of experience, but did just enough to stay alive for the return leg.
Maybank took the lead through Azzami Adabi in the 16th minute, but after the breather, UniKL scored two goals via Khairil Anuar in the 37th and Noor Faeez Ibrahim in the 43rd minute.
Maybank banked on their experience to draw level through Hafifi Hafiz (63rd) and Azzami (65th), but could not hold onto the lead as UniKL upped the tempo again and Noor Faez nailed the third goal in the 67th minute.
Maybank missed defender K. Gobinahan who was left warming the bench after he pulled a hamstring and will not be available for the return leg.
At the KLHA Stadium, League champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club hammered ATM-Airod 10-2 to confirm their semi-finals ticket. KLHC were in total command, and the second leg tomorrow will be purely academic for them.
Razie Rahim started the goal-count in the ninth minute, and then scored his brace in the 24th minute.
The other goals came off Chua Boon Huat (27th, 31st, 45th), Ismail Abu (28th, 45th), Harvinder Singh (52nd) and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (64th, 66th).
At the Tun Razak Stadium, Sapura beat Nur Insafi 4-1 to virtually confirm their semi-finals slot.
Sapura and KLHC will clash in the semi-final, unless their rivals pull off a miracle in the return leg.
Sapura took a 4-0 lead with goals from Jiwa Mohan (fifth), Rodhanizam Radzi (14th), Marhan Jalil (42nd) and Kazamirul Nasruddin (48th) before Sundeep Michael pulled one back for Nur Insafi in the 60th minute.
"Yes, I will be fielding my reserves for the return leg to avoid injuries and cards.
"However, I would like to congratulate ATM-Airod for playing good hockey for the first 20 minutes.
"They were even 1-1 with us after 12 minutes of play, but crumbled because they lacked experience," said KLHC coach R. Vivekanandan.
The most exciting match of the day was between youngsters UniKL-IBIL and Maybank, who also played to a 4-4 draw in the last encounter in Malacca.
"The feeling is simply great because my boys managed to hold an experienced team like Maybank to a draw twice in a row.
“The second draw was even sweeter for me, because my players did not crack under pressure, and we live to fight on," said UniKL-IBIL coach I. Vickneswaran.

RESULTS: Q-finals, first leg: KLHC 10 ATM-Airod 2, Nur Insafi 1 Sapura 4, Maybank 3 UniKL-IBIL 3, UiTM 0 Tenaga 2.
SUNDAY : Tenaga v UiTM (4.30pm, KLHA Stadium).
UniKL-IBIL vs Maybank (4.30pm), Sapura vs Nur Insafi (6.30pm), ATM-Airod vs KLHC (8.30pm).
*Matches at Tun Razak Stadium.