Trouble or smoke screen?

(From left) TNB’s Mohd Sallehin Abd Ghani, KLHC’s Azlan Misron, YNS’s Mohd Harfizi Baharom and Sapura’s S. Kuhan will will play key roles for their respective teams in tomorrow’s first leg semi-finals . — Picture by Fariz Iswadi Ismail

By Ajitpal Singh

YAYASAN Negri Sembilan (YNS) and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) will both miss key players for tomorrow's first leg semi-finals of the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL).
Prabjoth Singh may not be available for YNS' crucial first leg match against Premier Division champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) as the former international has returned to India.
As for TNB, last year's champions may have to do without penalty corner specialist Amin Rahim and former international Tajol Rosli, as both are nursing knee injuries.
It could be a huge blow to TNB as they will be facing a motivated Sapura side, led by Pakistan's Rehan Butt.
YNS manager-cum-coach Hasnizam Ah Sim, who confirmed that Prabjoth is in India, said the striker will likely arrive in time for tomorrow's semi-final.
"We need our best players for the semi-finals as our opponents, KLHC, are the team to beat in the competition," said Hasnizam at TNB headquarters in Bangsar yesterday.
"Our players have blended well together as an effective unit. We intend to give KLHC a tough time."
KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj said his charges need to be cautious as YNS have depth and experience in their side.
"They rely on individual talent to win matches while we count on team work to get results.
"YNS have experienced players as their foreign signings have played in the World Cup and Olympic Games," he said.
Dharmaraj pointed at Shakeel Abbasi, Mohamed Imran, Muhammad Waqas Sharif, Dheepak Thakur and Prabjoth as the most dangerous players in the YNS side.
"We noticed that YNS' play is built around these five players. They are the core players who we must keep an eye on," he added.
Meanwhile, TNB coach Nor Saiful Zaini said Amin and Tajol were both doubtful for tomorrow's first leg match.
"Sapura have been making good progress since the start of the competition and it will be tough for us without our two key players," said Nor Saiful.
Sapura captain S. Kuhan said he and his teammates are focused on getting a good result today.
"The probable absence of Amin and Tajol will not make a big difference as TNB have other good players like goalkeeper S. Kumar, who is difficult to beat on his day.
"Besides Kumar, they have Faizal Saari and M. Kaliswaran, who both are very sharp up front," said Kuhan.

National Press Club-CIMB bowling huge success

SUNWAY: More than 160 news hounds were chasing for titles, not stories, in the first CIMB Group-National Press Club Inter-Media Bowling Tournament at Pyramid Mega Lanes recently.
Forty-one teams from the print and broadcast media, with each squad comprising four members, took part in the event, specifically organised as a “fun activity”.
In the end, the Sinar Harian A team blazed the lanes to become inaugural champions with an eight-game total of 1,388 pinfalls. Azmi Termizi, Syakila Mardyanna, Rikiman Yusuf and Mizan Mat Tamin took home RM3,000 cash and medals for their triumph.
It was a triple victory for Syakila, who also bagged the Hi-Game (236 pinfalls) and Hi-Series (463) awards. She walked away with shopping vouchers.
Her scores even beat those by the corresponding male winners, with Mazlan Ali of Harian Metro chalking up 228 pinfalls for Hi-Game and RTM TV1’s Azami Mohamed scoring 425 pinfalls for Hi-Series.
In the team category, Bernama TV won RM2,000 for emerging second (1,348 pinfalls) while third was RTM TV1 (1,338), taking home RM1,000. Berita Harian received RM800 for fourth spot (1,304) and Harian Metro B came in fifth (1,291), winning RM500.
Sixth to 10th spots were worth RM100 each: Astro Birds (1,260), Berita Harian’s Jai Ho (1,259), Star’s Senyum Manis squad (1,245), Radio 24 Bernama (1,229) and Astro Warna (1,217).
Novelty prize categories added fun and gaiety to the tournament with BH’s Jai Ho team making it a double victory, taking home the Team Spirit award.
Abie Abdullah, editor of Metro Ahad’s Celebrity pullout, won the Most Funky Bowling Pose award while Shamsul Rizal of Astro Ria took home the Most Creative Outfit award, which reflected the tournament’s theme, “Strike in Stripes”.
The Best Dressed Bowler awards were won by Peter Yap of TheSun (for male category) and Harian Metro’s Maznah Abu Bakar (female).
Winners of the novelty prize categories received iPads, spa and shopping vouchers.

50 best from Under-16 to go places

(From left) Ng Ping Loong (sports sponsorship manager Nestle Malaysia), Nur Azmi Ahmad (MHF deputy president), Abdul Jalil Abdullah (NSC sports management director) and Johari Aziz (KLHA deputy director) at the launch of the National Under-16 Championship at the KLHA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. — Picture by Fariz Iswadi Ismail.

By Ajitpal Singh

NATIONAL Under-16 coach Lim Chiow Chuan will pick 50 of the best players from the National Under-16 Hockey Championship, which starts on Friday, for training to prepare for the Razak Cup and the Four-Nation Invitational in Germany.

Chiow Chuan, a former international, said those selected will be called up for training just before the first leg qualifying round of the Razak Cup in April.

"My immediate task is to select at least 50 players from the Under-16 competition. These players will be groomed accordingly," said Chiow Chuan after the launch of the National Under-16 Championships at the KLHA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

For the Razak Cup, the national Under-16 team have been placed in the North Zone where they will face Penang, Kedah and Perlis in a home-and-away (April and May) qualifying round format before the tournament proper in July.

"The Razak Cup will give me the opportunity to select the best for the Four-Nation Invitational in Manheim, Germany," Chiow Chuan added.

Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are the other teams competing in the Four-Nation on June 10-13.

Meanwhile, a total of 15 teams, including Singapore and debutants Police, will battle it out in the National Under-16 Championship at the KLHA Stadium.

Defending champions Kuala Lumpur have been drawn in Group A with Selangor, Johor, Malacca, Pahang, Police and Sabah while Group B comprises Perak, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, Penang, Terengganu and Singapore.

One significant factor in this year's event is that the two coaches of the teams that contest in the final will be given the opportunity to join the National Under-16 team as attachment coaches.

Kuhan: Limit foreigners

S. KUHAN started playing in the Malaysia Hockey League in 1992 when he was a 16-year-old, and knows the tournament like the back of his hands.

He tasted the glory of becoming double champions with his first ever team Yayasan Negri Sembilan in 1994 and 1995, and then moved to Petaling Jaya Municipal Council, Bank Simpanan Nasional and finally Sapura in 2000 up till now.

"I have been involved with the MHL since my school days, and practically spent half my life playing in it. It is difficult to compare the standard of play over the 15 years as there have been too many changes in rules over the years. The sport is no longer the same as when I first started playing it," said Kuhan when asked on his opinion on the progress of the MHL.

However, the former Malaysian captain lamented on two matters which are a bit of a concern.

"The crowd used to be much better back then, especially when Armed Forces were playing as truck loads of supporters were brought in to make it more interesting.

"Today, there are some venues which attract only small crowds, and it only gets better from the semi-finals onwards when stadiums are filled to the brim.

"The other matter is on the infusion of foreign players. Personally, I feel that there should be a cap on the number of foreigners which a team can sign up.

"Having foreigners, especially big names in hockey, is a crowd puller but too many of them in one team deprives our local players of an opportunity to play.

"I believe, maybe five foreigners is a good cap, and the locals can also learn from them like YNS players did back then when the best India players were hired to make it more exciting," said Kuhan.

India skipper Pargat Singh, Jude Felix and Mukesh Kumar were the foreign stars in YNS, while the local big names were former skipper Sarjit Singh, Soon Mustapha, Gurmit Singh and current national coaching coordinator Stephen van Huizen.

YNS made a comeback to the League after an absence of 15 years but more than 50 percent of their team are foreign players.

On how the MHL could be further improved, Kuhan said: "I feel the MHL is well run, and many of our juniors from Project 2013 have benefited from playing in it.

"However, the fixtures need to be improved as the 3.30pm and 4pm matches serve no purpose. Firstly, the crowd are not there, and secondly, it is just too hot to play at that hour and the quality drops drastically," said Kuhan.

YNS brace for KLHC test

YNS’ Shakeel Abbasi (centre) vies with UniKL’s Mohd Razali Zulkipli in their first leg quarter-final match last Friday. YNS won 4-2.

By Ajitpal Singh

YAYASAN Negri Sembilan (YNS) are under no illusion about the kind of challenge Premier Division champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) will pose in the semi-finals of the Malaysian Hockey League.

YNS are bidding for their first overall title since 1996 and on returning to the league after 11 years, the club, with 11 foreign players mostly from India and Pakistan, are determined to upset the form book but may find KLHC too hot to handle.

The Negri Sembilan-based club were not expected to progress far in the knock-out stage after their erratic show in the Premier Division. But they managed to get into their groove in the quarter-finals and beat UniKL 9-5 on aggregate.

"We are glad we won convincingly as confidence is really important at this stage of the tournament. My hope is that my charges continue to play good hockey in the semi-finals," said YNS coach Hasnizam Ah Sim yesterday.

KLHC, however, are also entering the semi-finals on a high after a massive 26-3 aggregate win over Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS).

YNS and KLHC, who have seven national players from the Asian Games silver medal side, have met twice in the league with the latter winning both encounters convincingly (6-3 and 7-2).

"We must forget about past results. They may have beaten us twice in the league but it does not matter to us," added Hasnizam.

"We are a better prepared team for the semi-finals. It is also important we learn from past mistakes ahead of the clash." Sapura will be gunning for revenge when they face defending champions Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in the other semi-final.

TNB, also this season's Charity Shield winners, edged Sapura on penalty strokes to lift the overall title last year.

It is expected to be an exciting clash as both teams are fired-up after their quarter-final wins.

TNB thrashed Armed Forces Juniors 11-4 on aggregate without the injured Amin Rahim but the drag flick specialist is expected to return for the semi-final.

Sapura, led by S. Kuhan and Pakistan international Rehan Butt, also boosted their confidence by overcoming Maybank 8-1 on aggregate.