LEAGUE champions UniKL Young Guns beat Tunku Besar Secondary School (TBSS) of Tampin 4-0 for their second consecutive win in Division One of the Milo-Junior Hockey League at the Seremban II Stadium yesterday.
UniKL had edged Petaling Jaya Municipal Council 2-1 on Thursday.
However the double aspirants still played well below their standard yesterday, and it was defensive errors by TBSS defenders which gifted them the first two goals.
They took the lead in the eighth minute off Taufik Hamid and ten minutes later doubled their advantage when Hafiz Zainol found the back of the net after the ball had struck umpire Rosdi Pilus and caught the TBSS defence flatfooted.
The other goals were scored by Fahed Saifullah (44th) and Zulhannan Mazlan (50th).
“My players could not get used to the pitch conditions and could not score during penalty corners, while the forwards still keep muffing sitters.
“The one week break will give us an opportunity to work on these areas and despite the not scoring convincing wins in our first two matches, the six points would go a long way in our quest for a double this season,” said UniKL team manager Amir Azhar.
In Division Two Group A, Sapura were impressive when they bulldozed Anderson Juniors 5-1 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh.
Sapura, who made their JHL debut this season, had beaten USM Juniors 5-0 on Thursday.
Two Division Two Group B matches had to be called off yesterday, after torrential rain in Kuala Lumpur forced the KL Sports School and Olak-PKT match to be abandoned after 13 minutes, while the Yayasan Pahang and Datuk Taha match was called off in Pahang for the same reason.
RESULTS: Division One -- TBSS 0 UniKL 4, MBI Anderson x USM-MSSPP x.
Division Two (A): Politeknik KPT 1 Kedah HA Jr 2, Nur Insafi 3 KHA-MSNK 2, Anderson Jr 1 Sapura 5, MSSPP-USM Jr 5 PHNS 0.
Division Two (B): Yayasan Pahang v Datuk Taha (rained off), KLSS v Olak-PKT (rained off).
TODAY: Division One -- Thunderbolt vs SSBJ (Taman Daya I, 5pm), SSTMI vs SSBJ Jr (Taman Daya II, 5pm), TBSS vs MBPJ (Seremban II, 5pm).
Division Two (A): PHK-MSSK vs PHNS (Azaln Shah, 5pm).
Division Two (B): KLSS vs MPBP (KLHA, 5pm), Padang Midin vs Datuk Taha (Terengganu, 5pm), Olak-PKT vs Malac ca HS (Bukit Jalil, 5pm).
Friday, January 20, 2012
Britain for Azlan Shah Cup
Pic: Kelvinder Singh gets a break Down Under against Australia and Netherlands.THE AZLAN Shah Cup will see seven teams, with Olympic hosts Great Britain being the highest ranked, battling it out on the country’s first blue pitch from May 24 to June 3.
And if Malaysia, ranked 13th, make the cut via the Olympic Qualifier in Dublin on March 10-18, the Azlan Shah Cup will be a fantastic tune-up as the Olympics will be held in July.
Among the Azlan Shah Cup invitees, Britain (fourth), New Zealand (seventh), Pakistan (eighth) and Argentina (ninth) have already qualified for the Olympics, while India (10th), Malaysia and South Korea (sixth) will be involved Qualifiers early this year.
The Olympics will also be held on a blue pitch, making the Azlan Shah Cup a much sought after invitation this year.
Malaysia, who just played a five-series friendlies with China, have trimmed the squad to 22 players, and will send 21 Down Under to play four friendlies with Australia and two with the Netherlands from Jan 29.
There were no surprises, as the only addition from the Champions Challenge I squad for the friendlies was Kelvinder Singh who replaced Azammi Adabi.
The rest are regular faces, while Azammi will return to the training squad when the players return from their Tour.
MALAYSIA -- S. Kumar Subramiam , Roslan Jamaluddin, Nabil Fiqri, Amin Rahim, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Faizal Saari, Shahrun Nabil, Madzli Ikmar, Razie Rahim, Marhan Jalil, Sukri Mutalib, Baljit Singh, Hafifihafiz Hanafi, Azlan Misron, Izwan Firdaus, Azreen Rizal, Firhan Ashaari, Kevinder Singh, Fitri Saari , Amir Farid, Izzat Rahim.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
UniKL start on a stutter
LEAGUE champions UniKL Young Guns had a shaky start when they could only edge Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MBPJ) 2-1 in the curtain raiser of the Milo-Junior Hockey League yesterday.
Playing at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium, the UniKL goals were delivered by Nor Azrul Abdul Rahman in the sixth minute off their first penalty corner, and by Haziq Shamsul in the 53rd minute off a field attempt.
MBPJ got their act together late in the match, and scored their moral booster off their only penalty corner of the match in the 64th minute courtesy of Ganeisha Tamil Chelvam.
But UniKL's challengers Thunderbolt, the defending Overall champions, had a field day when they hammered Tengku Mahkota Ismail (SSTMI) 7-1 at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru.
The Thunderbolt goals were scored by Afzanizam Zakaria (12th), Aminudin Zain (30th, 60th), Sufi Ismat (55th), Khairul Shafik (56th), Shafiq Nordin (62nd) and Shahril Saabah (69th).
The SSTMI consolation was scored by Daniel Asyraf in the 39th minute.
UniKL team manager Amir Azhar was surprised on how his team muffed eight penalty corners and at least 10 field attempts after training for the last three months.
"Our penalty corners were a big letdown as we could only score one off the eight we won. And the field attempts were also not up to the mark, as we could have easily won by six goals if we had taken our chances," said Amir.
And today, the League champions meet last season's Division Two champions Tengku Besar Secondary School (TBSS) of Tampin.
"We have to wake up, overnight, as TBSS have shown that they have strikers when they beat Bukit Jalil (Sports School) JUniors 6-0 in a friendly recently," said Amir.
TBSS had a rest day yesterday, and the match could turn into an explosive encounter at the Seremban II pitch today.
RESULTS : Division One -- Thunderbolt 7 SSTMI 1, SSBJ 6 SSBJ Juniors 0, UniKL 2 MBPJ 1.
Division Two (A): Kedah HA Jr 1 Kedah HA-MSNK 1, Politeknik KPT 2 Nur Insafi 1, Anderson Jr 2 PHK-MSSK 3, MSSPP-USM Jr 0 Sapura 5.
Division Two (B): Tunas Pahang 2 MSP/Yayasan Pahang 3, Malacca HS 1 MPBP 0.
TODAY (FRIDAY): Division One -- TBSS v UniKL (Seremban II, 5pm), MBI Anderson vs USM-MSSPP (Azlan Shah, 5pm).
Division Two (A): Politeknik KPT vs Kedah HA Jr (Alor Star, 5pm), Nur Insafi vs KHA-MSNK (Sg Petani, 5pm), Anderson Jr vs Sapura (Azlan Shah, 5pm), MSSPP-USM Jr vs PHNS (USM, 5pm).
Division Two (B): Yayasan Pahang vs Datuk Taha (Kuantan, 4.30pm), KLSS vs Olak-PKT (KLHA, 5pm).
TOMORROW (SATURDAY): Division One -- Thunderbolt vs SSBJ (Taman Daya I, 5pm), SSTMI vs SSBJ Jr (Taman Daya II, 5pm), TBSS vs MBPJ (Seremban II, 5pm).
Division Two (A): PHK-MSSK vs PHNS (Azaln Shah, 5pm).
Division Two (B): KLSS vs MPBP (KLHA, 5pm), Padang Midin vs Datuk Taha (Terengganu, 5pm), Olak-PKT vs Malacca HS (Bukit Jalil, 5pm).
Playing at the Kuala Lumpur HA Stadium, the UniKL goals were delivered by Nor Azrul Abdul Rahman in the sixth minute off their first penalty corner, and by Haziq Shamsul in the 53rd minute off a field attempt.
MBPJ got their act together late in the match, and scored their moral booster off their only penalty corner of the match in the 64th minute courtesy of Ganeisha Tamil Chelvam.
But UniKL's challengers Thunderbolt, the defending Overall champions, had a field day when they hammered Tengku Mahkota Ismail (SSTMI) 7-1 at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru.
The Thunderbolt goals were scored by Afzanizam Zakaria (12th), Aminudin Zain (30th, 60th), Sufi Ismat (55th), Khairul Shafik (56th), Shafiq Nordin (62nd) and Shahril Saabah (69th).
The SSTMI consolation was scored by Daniel Asyraf in the 39th minute.
UniKL team manager Amir Azhar was surprised on how his team muffed eight penalty corners and at least 10 field attempts after training for the last three months.
"Our penalty corners were a big letdown as we could only score one off the eight we won. And the field attempts were also not up to the mark, as we could have easily won by six goals if we had taken our chances," said Amir.
And today, the League champions meet last season's Division Two champions Tengku Besar Secondary School (TBSS) of Tampin.
"We have to wake up, overnight, as TBSS have shown that they have strikers when they beat Bukit Jalil (Sports School) JUniors 6-0 in a friendly recently," said Amir.
TBSS had a rest day yesterday, and the match could turn into an explosive encounter at the Seremban II pitch today.
RESULTS : Division One -- Thunderbolt 7 SSTMI 1, SSBJ 6 SSBJ Juniors 0, UniKL 2 MBPJ 1.
Division Two (A): Kedah HA Jr 1 Kedah HA-MSNK 1, Politeknik KPT 2 Nur Insafi 1, Anderson Jr 2 PHK-MSSK 3, MSSPP-USM Jr 0 Sapura 5.
Division Two (B): Tunas Pahang 2 MSP/Yayasan Pahang 3, Malacca HS 1 MPBP 0.
TODAY (FRIDAY): Division One -- TBSS v UniKL (Seremban II, 5pm), MBI Anderson vs USM-MSSPP (Azlan Shah, 5pm).
Division Two (A): Politeknik KPT vs Kedah HA Jr (Alor Star, 5pm), Nur Insafi vs KHA-MSNK (Sg Petani, 5pm), Anderson Jr vs Sapura (Azlan Shah, 5pm), MSSPP-USM Jr vs PHNS (USM, 5pm).
Division Two (B): Yayasan Pahang vs Datuk Taha (Kuantan, 4.30pm), KLSS vs Olak-PKT (KLHA, 5pm).
TOMORROW (SATURDAY): Division One -- Thunderbolt vs SSBJ (Taman Daya I, 5pm), SSTMI vs SSBJ Jr (Taman Daya II, 5pm), TBSS vs MBPJ (Seremban II, 5pm).
Division Two (A): PHK-MSSK vs PHNS (Azaln Shah, 5pm).
Division Two (B): KLSS vs MPBP (KLHA, 5pm), Padang Midin vs Datuk Taha (Terengganu, 5pm), Olak-PKT vs Malacca HS (Bukit Jalil, 5pm).
China skipper tips South Korea
Tengku Ahmad Tajudin (left) vies with China’s Song Yi in their friendly on Tuesday. By Ajitpal SinghTHE national hockey team are confident of qualifying for the London Olympics but China captain Song Yi brushed it off stating that South Korea will win the qualifiers in Dublin.
China’s Song Yi.
“South Korea are better and besides, they have the experience playing in priority tournaments. They may have a new coach but I think they will be a well-oiled side in Dublin,” said Song Yi after his team were beaten 3-1 by Malaysia in the fifth and final friendly at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
Malaysia, who won the series 3-2, yesterday scored through Amin Rahim (eight minute), Razie Rahim (24th) and Fitri Saari (51th), all from penalty corner set-pieces, while China replied through Sun Luo (11th).
Others teams competing in Dublin in March for the one qualifying spot are Ireland, Russia, Ukraine and Chile.
Midfielder Shukri Mutalib disagreed with Song Yi and said that Malaysia had an even chance of making it to London.
“I’ve played in two previous Olympic qualifiers and I believe this team have a better chance as we are technically better, more skilful and are fit. “We are training hard and of course, if we don’t make it, we would be disappointed. We need to improve our penetration rate in the semi-circle and understanding in defence,” said Shukri, who has earned 145 caps.
National coach Tai Beng Hai said the team were on the right path but needed to tighten up in a few areas. “My players did better after the opening two matches. I have identified areas where we need tightening up,” said Beng Hai, who added that the players’ fitness has improved.
The team travel to Perth on Jan 28 where they will play Australia (four matches) and the Netherlands (two matches).
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Azlan Shah speaks his mind
Watch the two videos below, captured by yours truly (http://www.malaysianhockey.blogspot.com/) where His Royal Highness Sultan Azlan Shah, the life president of the Malaysian Hockey Federation takes the national coaches to task on the performance of the team in the match against China, which incidentally Malaysia won 2-0.
Rather then write about it, I leave it to the readers to make their own assumptions, from issues ranging to coaching methods, them declining help and also not having the winning mentality.
I must add that it was indeed rare to get HRH to speak on the fortunes on the team but when he speaks his mind, its earth shattering.
And talking about MHF, it was sad that no MHF official was present at the stadium to receive HRH Sultan Azlan Shah.
Although HRH may have decided at the last hour to witness the match, the fact that only K. Krishnan, a staff of the MHF office was present. He was accompanied by Lt. Kol B. Muthukumar in receiving Tuanku, the other office bearers of MHF missing.
A quick phone call by the Tuanku's aide to NSC Director General Dato Zolkples Embong saw the DG leaving a meeting to attend to Tuanku, a noble act given that MHF officials and the office was empty at 5.00pm, sans Krishnan.
Rather then write about it, I leave it to the readers to make their own assumptions, from issues ranging to coaching methods, them declining help and also not having the winning mentality.
I must add that it was indeed rare to get HRH to speak on the fortunes on the team but when he speaks his mind, its earth shattering.
And talking about MHF, it was sad that no MHF official was present at the stadium to receive HRH Sultan Azlan Shah.
Although HRH may have decided at the last hour to witness the match, the fact that only K. Krishnan, a staff of the MHF office was present. He was accompanied by Lt. Kol B. Muthukumar in receiving Tuanku, the other office bearers of MHF missing.
A quick phone call by the Tuanku's aide to NSC Director General Dato Zolkples Embong saw the DG leaving a meeting to attend to Tuanku, a noble act given that MHF officials and the office was empty at 5.00pm, sans Krishnan.
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