KLHC nail double

FINAL: Sapura 1 Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club 3.
Third-Fourth: Yayasan Negri Sembilan 1 Tenaga Nasional 3.
ROLL-OF-HONOUR:
Top Scorer: Razi Rahim (27 goals, KLHC)
Faiplay: Armed Forces Airod (RM3,000)
Man-of-the-Final: Roslan Jamaluddin (KLHC)
Man-of-the-Tournament: Azlan Misron (KLHC)
Best Goalkeeper: S. Kumar (Tenaga)

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) claimed their second double when they beat Sapura 3-1 in the final of the TNB Cup at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
The first double was in 2008, and yesterday's effort earned them RM60,000 while Sapura received RM40,000.
A crowd of 4,000 watched a sizzling final, as hockey was played at an entertaining level by both teams.
And it did not take long to get the crowd excited, as in the first minute itself, an Azlan Misron cross found Nabil Fiqri who gave KLHC an early boost.
Sapura were forced to open up the match after that and started making numerous counter attacks, which failed to find the equaliser even after four penalty corners were won as S. Kuhan was off colour.
KLHC resorted to defending, and only started attacking in the last 10 minutes of the first half, but could not increase the lead as three penalty corners were wasted by 26-goal scorer Razie Rahim.
After the breather, KLHC again mounted a swift attack in the 36th minute to consolidate their lead, but Ismail Abu just missed.
Sapura kept on pushing for the equalsier and in the 46th minute, Korean import Lim Woo Geun sent in a sizzling penalty corner flick which drew them level, but only for two minutes.
KLHC's Amerullah Aziz took it upon himself and made a darting run, and found the foot of a Sapura player in the 48th minute to win a penalty coner. Razie cooly flicked home their second, and his 27th goal of the Malaysia Hockey League.
Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, who had a poor match thus far, suddenly sprung into action in the 58th minute and scored a super field goal to give Sapura a 3-1 lead.
All hell almost broke loose in the 59th minute when Rodzhanizam Radzi of Sapura took a swipe at KLHC's Shahrun Nabil.
There was a brief commotion, and umpire Nazmi Kamaruddin brought it under control by flashing the red card to Rodzhanizam while Shahrun received the yellow for retaliating.
"It was a highy charged, but entertaining final and my players deserve the double as they never lost a match other than the Charity Shield (against Tenaga Nasional)," said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
Meanwhile, in the bronze battle Yayasan Negri Sembian drew first blood when Muhammad Imran converted a penalty corner in the 16th minute, but Tenaga Nasional refused to cave in easily.
The tide was turned by Faizal Saari who scored a penalty corner brace in the 25th and 45th minute, before Mahinder Singh zipped the match shut with a field attempt in the 67th minute and TNB were RM30,000 richer.
YNS received RM20,000 for finishing fourth.

Bronze: Tenaga 3 YNS 1

IN the bronze battle of the TNB Cup, Yayasan Negri Sembian
drew first blood when Muhammad Imran converted a
penalty corner in the 16th minute, but Tenaga Nasional
refused to cave in easily.
The tide was turned by Faizal Saari who scored a
penalty corner brace in the 25th and 45th minute, before
Mahinder Singh zipped the match shut with a field attempt
in the 67th minute and TNB were RM30,000 richer.
YNS received RM20,000 for finishing fourth.

Kuala Lumpur-Malacca final

DEFENDING champions Kuala Lumpur stormed into the
final of the National Under 16 Tournament in style when
they whipped Kelantan 6-0 at the KLHA Stadium
yesterday.
In the other semi-finals, Malacca defied the odds to beat
Perak 3-1 on penalty strokes after the match ended in a
1-1 draw. It is the first time that Malacca has qualified for
the final.
Kuala Lumur, who won the last three editions, is now
just a step away from their fourth consecutive title.
Goalkeeper Mohamed Ridzwan was the toast of the
Malacca as he saved the third stroke, having psyched the
first two Perak flickers, Khairul Adha Ilyas and Azli Misron
to send their flicks wide on either side of the goal.
And the attempt by Helmi Jaafar was saved by Ridzwan.
Malacca scored through Luqman Nurhakim, Muhd Zairie
Nizam and Firdaus Omar with only Amirul Aiman failing to
find the mark.
In regulation time, Perak took the lead in the 24th
minute off Mohamed Khairul but Malacca drew level in the
62nd minute when Faid Farhadh converted a penalty
corner. Extra time failed to produce a winner and the
match was decided on penalty strokes.
Kuala Lumpur's march towards the final is all the more
impressive given that they have gone 560 minutes without
conceding a goal.
As with their preliminary round matches, Kuala Lumpur
were slow starters and took more then 15 minutes to
settle down.
But once they did, Farhan Danial (19th), Atihsha Tamil
Chelvam (21st, 67th), Norsyafiq Sumantri (23rd), Zizi
Azwan Hassan (26th), Zulaniq Adib (44th) -- completeded
the show.
RESULTS: Semi-finals -- Kuala Lumpur 6 Kelantan 0;
Malacca 1 Perak 1 (Malacca win 3-1 on penalty strokes)
TODAY: Final -- Kuala Lumpur v Malacca (5.30pm);
Third-Fourth: Perak v Kelantan (3.30pm).
Both matches at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium.

Stroke of luck might decide

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) will be hoping to break their TNB Cup jinx when they play Sapura in the final of the Malaysia Hockey League at the Tun Razak Stadium today.
KLHC have been very unlucky in the knock-out stages, and have only one 2008 Overall title to show after playing five times in the final.
However, they have five League titles in their collection.
“We have been unlucky in many of the Overall finals, and lost two on penalty shoot-outs. The irony of it is that we trained for one week on penalty strokes on both occasions , and even nominated the five players who will take it. But we lost in both finals.
“But in 2008, we did not train for penalties at all, and I only asked around who wanted to take the flick after the extra- time.
“And we won the shoot out. That is what I am not going to think about the match going into penalties to decide the outcome,” said Dharmaraj.
Playing under the banner of Ernst and Young in 2006, they lost 3-4 to Sapura on penalties after extra time failed to resolve a 1-1 deadlock.
And against Tenaga Nasional the 2007 final, the match ended 2-2 after extra time. In the shoot out, Ernst and Young were beaten 2-3.
However, Ernst and Young finally won their elusive Overall title in 2008 when they beat Sapura 6-5 on penalties after the match ended 2-2.
As for Sapura, they are masters in slowing down the match, and this would surely break the rhythm of speedy KLHC forwards.
“I have some experienced players who can hold the match when we need to, and against a fast forward-line like KLHC, we might need to do it more often than other matches,” said Sapura coach I. Vickneswaran.
Sapura lost both their league matches 3-0 and 6-2 to KLHC, but that was when they were in a transformation period.
“The team were slow to start in the League as we relied on individual players.
“However, in the knock-out stage, the players finally clicked as a team and this is the effort which took us into the final over more fancied opponents,” said Vickneswaran.
The match is expected to be explosive, and penalty cor ners, not penalty strokes, could well decide the new Overall champion.
PAST WINNERS (League, and Overall): 1987 RMR, Kilat; 1988 UAB, Maybank; 1989 RMR, Kilat; 1990 Kilat, Maybank; 1991-92 Kilat, Kilat; 1992-93 YNS, MBf; 1994 Maybank, Maybank; 1995 Maybank, YNS; 1996 YNS, YNS; 1997 MPPJ, MPPJ; 1998 no tournament due to Commonwealth Games; 1999 BSN, BSN; 2000-01 Tenaga, BSN; 2002 Tenaga, BSN;
2003 Tenaga, Tenaga; 2004 Sapura, Tenaga; 2005 Sapura, Sapura; 2006 Ernst & Young, Sapura; 2007 Ernst & Young, Tenaga Nasional; 2008 Ernst & Young, Ernst & Young; 2009/10 KL Hockey Club, Tenaga Nasional; 2010/11 KL Hockey Club.

Kuala Lumpur good for fourth

KUALA Lumpur will be gunning for their fourth consecutive National Under-16 title when they play Kelantan at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium today.
In the other semis is Perak, who were finalists the last three season, and a strong Malacca side.
The tournament also serves as a selection ground to pick 50 budding players for the National Under-16 side who have two assignments this year.
They will be coached by former International Lim Chiow Chuan for the qualifying rounds of the Tun Razak Cup in April and May before competing in a Four-Nation Invitational in Manheim, Germany from 10-13 June, 2011.
The other three countries in the fray are Germany, Holland and Belgium.
Chiow Chuan has been a regular fixture at the stadium, and said he already has almost all the 50 players in mind.
“Only two teams, Perak and Kuala Lumpur, have shown good overall performance in the tournament while the other teams only have a few good players to carry them.
“I have almost finalised the 50 trainees, and they will be notified soon,” said Chiow Chuan.
Kuala Lumpur are the hot favourites for the title, while the Perak and Malacca match could either way.
TODAY: Semi-finals -- Kuala Lumpur v Kelantan (KLHA Stadium, 3.30pm); Perak v Malacca (KLHA Stadium, 5.30pm).