India hold Australia 1-1

INDIA held World No 1 Australia to a 1-1 draw, but for coach Ric Charlesworth, it was a defeat in the Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh yesterday.
"We lost, I mean the draw was just like a defeat for us as we had five penalty corners and could not score while they only had one and scored," said Australian coach Ric Charlesworth
India coach Harendra Singh Singh was glad with the draw, but was peeved by the overall poor umpiring in the tournament.
"We drew a crucial game because the umpiring was not up to standard," echoed India captain Arjun Halappa.
"I fail to understand. We have seven strong teams here, with four that have qualified for the Olympics, but still the best umpires were not selected for the tournament.
"This is not good beause team management, players and coaches have worked hard to get ready for this tournament, but as you can see, both Australia and India were punished by poor umpiring today (yesterday)," said Harendra.
India were down by the 14th minute, when Jacob Whetton scored a field goal, but they nailed the equaliser off Rupinder Singh's penalty corner attempt in the 23rd minute. It was his fourth goal in the tournament after a hat-trick against Great Britain.
India play Malaysia today: "It will be a difficult match, but I believe we have a good chance as my team has started playing for the full 70 minutes in the last two games," said Harendra.
Malaysia will play without skipper Madzli Ikmar, who suffered a compound fracture on his cheekbone in the bruising match against Australia.
In another entertaining match, Great Britain beat a fighting Pakistan 3-2 with the goals coming from Robert Moore (eighth), Jonathan Clarke (39th, 63rd).
The Pakistan goals were scored by Sohail Abbas (31st) and Hassem Khan (64th).

TBSS win maiden title

TBSS players celebrate after beating MSSPP-USM 4-1 yesterday at Tun Razak Stadium. — Picture by Osman Adnan

TUNKU Besar Secondary School (TBSS) captured their first Junior Hockey League title by overcoming MSSP-USM 4-1 in the Division Two final at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
TBSS earned RM7,000 for their effort while MSSP-USM received RM5,500. Johor defeated Malacca High School 3-1 to finish third.
Muhd Shair Arif and Muhd Irsyaduddin Abu Yazizi scored in the sixth and 10th minutes, respectively to give the Tampin side an early 2-0 lead.
However, MSSP-USM reduced the deficit through Muhd Rahimi Iskandar Baharom's field attempt in the 13th minute.
In the second half, the Penang side attacked in numbers but in the process, left holes in defence which allowed TBSS ample space upfront.
Muhd Shair scored his second in the 60th minute for TBSS before Muhd Syabariq Shamsuri extended their lead nine minutes later.
TBSS and MSSP-USM, together with six Division One teams, will compete in the knockout stage for the overall title which starts on Friday.
"I am very happy with the result. It is our first major title in the league. We took it easy after taking a 2-0 lead but luckily we managed to hold on to add two more goals in the second half," said TBSS manager M. Vivekananda yesterday.
TBSS will face Bandar Penawar Sports School-Thunderbolts while MSSP-UPM will play Division One champions UniKL in the quarter-finals (overall).
"We will start as underdogs in the quarter-finals. Our boys are scoring a lot of goals through field attempts but lacking in terms of earning penalty corners. We need to work on that," added Vivekananda.
RESULTS -- Final: TBSS 4 MSSP-USM 1
3rd/4th placing: Johor 3 Malaca High School 1

An improved Pakistan

ASIAN Games champions Pakistan are a rejuvenated side, as their senior and junior players have clicked extremely well in the first two matches of the Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh.
They beat New Zealand and South Korea by 4-2 scorelines to give themselves a good chance of playing in the final.
And the secret to their success after finishing 12th in the New Delhi World Cup last year?
"We have been drilling the players to play as a family, and only rely on individual skills when they are presented with an opportunity.
"The sport has changed so much that the coach now has to tell the players when to play as a team, and when to break free individually. Our players no longer run with the ball aimlessly," said Pakistan coach Junaid Khawaja.
Pakistan have qualified for the 2012 London Olympics, and so have Australia, New Zealand and Britain.
"We are playing against nations who are seriously building sides for the Olympics, and it was nice to beat New Zealand.
"And we play Britain next. They have the same brand of European hockey like New Zealand and even though it will be a tough match, I believe my players have received a big boost in the two earlier matches and are primed for another win," said Junaid.

Under pressure against Asians

MALAYSIA, as was expected, lost their first two matches but victories are what they have to serve when playing against Asian opponents in the Azlan Shah Cup from now.
Malaysia play India tomorrow and it will be a tough match as the Indians beat Britain 3-1, the scoreline similar to the national team's defeat to the 2012 Olympic hosts on Thursday.
"There are no easy matches for us in the Azlan Shah Cup as we are the lowest ranked team. India, New Zealand, South Korea and Pakistan have displayed good attitude even with many new players, and I expect them to improve with every match," said national coach Tai Beng Hai.
On his players, Beng Hai was satisfied with the way they played against Australia, but the poor conversion rate is a cause for worry.
"The forwards made many openings in both matches, but failed to score and that is a cause to worry. We only scored two field goals (both by Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin) while the penalty corners have not been working.
"That (penalty corners) is what we will work on in the two rest days. I need to stress that we are working towards the Olympic Qualifier so I might try some new approaches."
India are inconsistent, as after losing tamely to South Korea, they played like champions against Britain.
Malaysia need to beat the three Asian teams to show that their silver medal in the Asian Games was not a flash in the pan.
They showed that they were not afraid of World No 1 Australia, and it is time to produce super shows against their Asian counterparts.

Pakistan take early lead

RESULTS -- Korea 2 Pakistan 4, Great Britain 1 India 3, Australia 2 Malaysia 1.

STANDINGS

P W D L F A Pts
PAKISTAN 2 2 0 0 8 4 6
INDIA 2 1 0 1 5 4 3
AUSTRALIA 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
BRITAIN 2 1 0 1 4 4 3
KOREA 2 1 0 1 5 6 3
NEW ZEALND 1 0 0 1 2 4 0
MALAYSIA 2 0 0 2 2 5 0

MAY 7 -- REST DAY.
MAY 8 -- Australia v India (4pm), Great Britain v Pakistan (6pm), Korea v New Zealand (8pm).
MAY 9 -- Australia v Pakistan (4pm), Great Britain v New Zealand (6pm), India v Malaysia (8pm).
MAY 10 -- REST DAY.
MAY 11 -- New Zealand v Malaysia (4pm), Australia v Korea (6pm), Pakistan v India (8pm).
MAY 12 -- Australia v Great Britain (4pm), New Zealand v India (6pm), Korea v Malaysia (8pm).
MAY 14 -- Great Britain v South Korea (4pm), Pakistan v Malaysia (6pm), Australia v New Zealand (8pm).
MAY 15 -- Fifth-Sixth (4pm), Third-Fourth (6pm); Final (8.30pm).