KLHC simply the best..

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) beat Sapura 5-1 to lift the TNB-Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division title at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.
The unbeaten champions received RM60,000, while Sapura pocketed RM40,000 and third-placed Tenaga Nasional received RM30,000.
And double champions KLHC will have two 'rest days' in the Quarter-finals as they will play Division One champions SSTMI-Thunderbolt and the score should reach double-digit.
Sapura and will play seventh-place Nur Insafi.
"We have achieved two of our targets (Charity Shield and League title) and going into the Overall battle, my players will keep the same tempo and there will be no mercy against the Division One champions.
"We are dead serious about the knock-out stages, and will field our best even when playing against weaker sides," warned KLHC team manager George Koshy.
Yesterday, KLHC got their goals off Fitri Saari (27th), Razie Rahim (41st), Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (45th), Ismail Abu (61st)and Amerullah Aziz (65th).
Sapura's consolation was scored by skipper S. Kuhan in the 57th minute.
Maybank ended fourth in the League when they beat Nur Insafi 7-4 in a highly entertaining match.
The Tigers were 3-0 up in the first 10 minutes off Zulhairi Hashim (second), Azrul Effendy (eighth) and Amirullah Zainol (ninth).
Nur Insafi pulled a goal back through Damandeep Singh in the 14th minute but Maybank restored their three goal advantage when Mohammad Syafiq Zain scored in the 24th minute.
Nur Insafi managed to score two more goals before the halftime break off Nur Hrsikesa (27th) and Damandeep (33rd) for a halftime score of 4-3 in favour of the bankers.
But the Tigers woke up from their slumber and a penalty corner conversion by Zulhairi in the 39th minute extended their lead to 5-3 before Hairul Nizam (45th) and Hafifihafiz Hanafi (46th) handed the win to Maybank.
Nur Insafi scored in the 54th minute through Damandeep to make the final score 7-4.


FINAL STANDINGS

PREMIER DIVISION

P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 8 8 0 0 45 12 24
Sapura 8 6 0 2 25 14 18
TNB 8 5 1 2 26 8 16
Maybank 8 4 1 3 23 16 13
UniKL 8 2 4 2 19 22 10
YNS 8 3 1 4 12 21 10
Nur Insafi 8 2 1 5 18 33 7
UiTM 8 0 3 5 7 27 3
Airod 8 0 1 7 11 33 1

Division One

P W D L F A Pts
T’bolt 8 4 4 0 22 17 16
Uniten 8 3 3 2 16 16 12
Ipoh CH 8 3 3 2 16 19 12
BJSS 8 2 3 3 19 13 9
UNIMAP 8 1 1 6 13 21 4

RESULTS: Premier Division: YNS 0 UiTM 0, Maybank 7 Nur Insafi 4, UniKL 4 Armed Forces Airod 2, KL Hockey Club 5 Sapura 1.
Division One: Ipoh City Hall 2 UniTen 3, UNIMAP 2 BJSS 5.

WEDNESDAY -- Quarter-finals (first leg): KL Hockey Club v SSTMI-Thunderbolt (KLHA Stadium, 6pm), UniKL v Maybank (National Stadium Pitch II, 4pm), Sapura v Nur Insafi (National Stadium Pitch II, 6pm), Tenaga Nasional v Yayasan NS (National Stadium Pitch II, 8pm)
FRIDAY (second leg): SSTMI-Thunderbolt v KL Hockey Club (KLHA Stadium, 6pm).
SATURDAY (second leg): Nur Insafi v Sapura (National Stadium Pitch 1, 6pm), Yayasan NS v Tenaga Nasional (National Stadium Pitch II, 6pm), Maybank v UniKL (National Stadium Pitch II, 8pm).

KLHC lying on a comfy cushion

THE TNB-Malaysia Hockey League title belongs to Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) even before playing Sapura in their final fixture today, but the double champions will be chasing for an unbeaten record by fielding their best.
Coach R. Vivekanandan said even though they have a 14 goal lead, while Sapura has lost a match and are trailing by three points, it will not be a rest day for his charges.
“I have pushed forward the point that as double cham pions, we will have to prove ourselves by winning our final match against Sapura to keep our unbeaten record going into the iknock out stage.
“I will field the best 18, and we will not slow down the momentum or take the match lightly as KLHC’s reputation is at stake here,” said Vivekanandan.
The only player who could be missing from KLHC’s line-up today is Kelvinder Singh.
“Kelvinder picked up a shoulder injury while playing against Nur Insafi (on Friday) and is a doubtful starter, while the rest of my players are in good shape to give their best,” said Vivekanandan.
And after lifting the title, they will have te esaiest of quarterfinals as they will meet Division One champions Thunderbolt.
The match is expected to be a lopsided affair and could even reach an aggregate of 20-0 in the two-leg quarters.
Sapura coach I. Vickneswaran said their chances of up setting are slim: “With a 14-goal deficit, we need to beat KLHC by seven goals to deny them the title, which is a little too steep to achieve.”

P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 7 7 0 0 40 11 21
Sapura 7 6 0 1 24 9 18
TNB 8 5 1 2 26 8 16
Maybank 7 3 1 3 16 12 10
YNS 7 3 0 4 12 21 9
UniKL 7 1 4 2 15 20 7
Nur Insafi 7 2 1 4 14 26 7
UiTM 7 0 2 5 7 27 2
Airod 7 0 1 6 9 29 1

Division One

P W D L F A Pts
T’bolt 8 4 4 0 22 17 16
Ipoh CH 7 3 3 1 14 16 12
Uniten 7 2 3 2 13 14 9
BJSS 7 1 3 3 14 11 6
UNIMAP 7 1 1 5 11 16 4

TODAY: Premier Division: YNS v UiTM (Pitch II, 4pm), Maybank v Nur Insafi (Pitch 1, 5pm), UniKL v Armed Forces Airod (Pitch II, 6pm), KL Hockey Club v Sapura (Pitch II, 8pm).
All matches at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Division 1 Ipoh City Hall v UniTen (Azlan Shah, 5pm), UNIMAP v BJSS (Alor Star, 5pm).

MHC almost a reality

THE Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) will be for mally formed by the end of December, and the term will run for four years until 2014.
Yesterday, the MHC held their Extraordinary General Meeting, and president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said the body is at a crossroad right now, but will be a reality by the end of the year.
“The MHC is at a crossroads as to its structure after we were formed in 2006. Recently, the FIH (International Hock ey Federation) wants a certain structure with both the women and men mereged as one.
“We have almost reached that stage, and it is also in my personal interest to see hockey in Malaysia is merged as one system under one roof which the FIH has numerous times highlighted to us on the urgency to merge,” said Tengku Abdullah.
Onced merged the MHC structure will see a president, a deputy president, two senior vice-presdients, 10 vice pres idents, four independent members, a secretary, an assistant sectary, treasurer and an assistant treasurer.
Only the secretary his assistant, and treasurer and his assistant will be appoinetd, while the rest of the posts will be elected.
“The FIH have approved MHC’s constitution and by the time we merge, we will have 26 affiliates which constitutes 16 from the men and 10 from the women.
“And after the merger, we will continue work on the Strategic Plan for six years (from 2010 to 2016 mooted earlier) and hope Malaysian hockey shall continue to achieve greater heights in years to come.”
The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) also gave out RM5,000 to each player yesterday for winning bronze in the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy in Ordos, Innner Mon golia, recently.
“Our target for the tournament was fourth, and this reward is to spur the players to achieve better results in the coming tournaments (Champions Challenge I and Olympics Qualifier),” said Tengku Abdullah.
And on the doping scandal which has hit the Malaysia Hockey League Premier Division: “Players have tested pos itive in the first test and I will wait for the second test to make a statement, to be fair to all.
“However, MHF has tested all its senior and junior trainees and the results returned negative on Monday and I see this as a positive development,” said Tengku Abdullah.

KLHC continue title march

KUALA Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) were made to sweat before beating Nur Insafi 5-2 to virtually claim their TNB-Malaysia Hockey League title at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
Double champions KLHC only have one match against Sapura tomorrow, and can even afford to lose by seven goals but will still be crowned as League champions.
Against Nur Insafi, KLHC opened scoring in the 10th minute through Ismail Abu and they doubled the score in the 22nd minute off Amerullah Aziz. Ismail scored his second a minute later to give KLHC a comfortable lead into the breather.
But Nur Insafi scored two goals in quick succession when Nur Hrsikesa Thaichana scored off a penalty corner in the 38th minute and a minute later Damandeep Singh made it 3-2.
However KLHC hit back with goals from Razie Rahim (40th) and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (42nd) stretched their unbeaten run to seven matches.

"It was a very slow start but a good finish from my players today. I think it was due to the energy sapping match we played against Tenaga (losing 2-0 on Wednesday).
"However, my players only have one more day to rest before we play our big match against KLHC (Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club)," said Sapura coach I. Vickneswaran.
Yesterday, YNS and Sapura played to a dull first half, and the action only started in the last 20 minutes of the match.
Sapura took the lead in the 42nd minute off Marhan Jali. But YNS found the equaliser in the 58th minute through a penalty corner converted by Pakistan import Ihsan Ullah Khan.
But YNS fell asleep for two minutes from the 64th and S. Kuhan scored from off penalty corner while Jiwa Mohan sealed the match with a close attempt.
In another Premier Division Match, Maybank beat Tenaga 2-1 to move two rungs up to fourth on the standings.

P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 7 7 0 0 40 11 21
Sapura 7 6 0 1 24 9 18
TNB 8 5 1 2 26 8 16
Maybank 7 3 1 3 16 12 10
YNS 7 3 0 4 12 21 9
UniKL 7 1 4 2 15 20 7
Nur Insafi 7 2 1 4 14 26 7
UiTM 7 0 2 5 7 27 2
Airod 7 0 1 6 9 29 1

Division One

P W D L F A Pts
T’bolt 8 4 4 0 22 17 16
Ipoh CH 7 3 3 1 14 16 12
Uniten 7 2 3 2 13 14 9
BJSS 7 1 3 3 14 11 6
UNIMAP 7 1 1 5 11 16 4

RESULTS -- Premier Divisiosn: YNS 1 Sapura 3, Nur Insafi 2 KL Hockey Club 5, Maybank 2 TNB 1, UiTM 1 Armed Forces Airod 1.
Division 1 - Uniten 2 BJSS 1, UNIMAP 1 SSTMI-Thunderbolt 2.
SUNDAY: Premier Division: YNS v UiTM (Pitch II, 4pm), Maybank v Nur Insafi (Pitch 1, 5pm), UniKL v Armed Forces Airod (Pitch II, 6pm), KL Hockey Club v Sapura (Pitch II, 8pm).
All matches at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Division 1 Ipoh City Hall v UniTen (Azlan Shah, 5pm), UNIMAP v BJSS (Alor Star, 5pm).

Oceania Upset: Australia lose 3-0 to Kiwis

THE Kookaburras have suffered a shock 3-0 defeat at the hands of New Zealand in game one of the Oceania Cup at the Tasmanian Hockey Centre in Hobart.
The New Zealanders, who had not defeated Australia since 1998, capitalised on their limited scoring opportunities to take at 1-0 series lead.
It was Australia who did the majority of attacking, putting the New Zealand defence under the pump early with some energetic circle penetrations.
However it was New Zealand who dealt the first blow in the 8th minute after Hugo Inglis turned the ball over deep in the Australian defensive half and put away a magnificent reverse stick strike that went high into the net.
The Kookaburras responded to the scoreboard pressure and dominated possession to create multiple scoring chances but to no prevail.
Pacey Kookaburra midfielder Simon Orchard looked dangerous on several occasions and despite the amount of possession the Australians could not find the back of the net.
New Zealand goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex was outstanding for the Blacksticks as the Kookaburras continued to apply pressure through circle penetrations and multiple penalty corners.
The Blacksticks too had their chances to increase their lead, catching the Australian defence off guard on the counter attack on several occasions.
After the break, the Australians continued to apply pressure to the New Zealand defence.
Pontifex was again up to the challenge however, making several desperate on the line saves to deny the Australians any scoreboard presence.
Orchard continued to stream through the middle of the pitch to create more opportunities and the Kookaburras were awarded penalty corners for their efforts but they failure to convert resulted in frustration.
New Zealander were able to break through the Kookaburra defence and force their first penalty corner in the 57th minute which resulted in a Andy Haywood goal to sink the hearts of the Kookaburras.
The frustration in the Australians showed in the final ten minutes and New Zealand were able to drive forward with confidence.
Forcing their second penalty corner, Haywood was again able to convert in the 63rd minute to give the Blacksticks a historic 3-0 win.
Kookaburras coach Ric Charlesworth said he was disappointed in his side’s ability to finish in the circle and utilise the opportunities created but admitted there was no need to panic and no radical changes needed to be made.
“When a side scores 100% of their penalty corners they are going to be tough to beat”, Charlesworth said.
“We had our chances and unfortunately could not finish.
“Today we had players whose skill level wasn’t quite up to it and had some errors at the back.
“We will work on the small things and pay some attention to our penalty corners to improve on our performances in the coming matches”.

Source: Hockey Australia Media Release