National Under-14: Malacca boys edge Negri

MALACCA sprang a surprise by beating Negri Sembilan 1-0 on the first day of the National Under-14 Hockey Tournament in Kuala Terengganu yesterday.
    Ranked lower than their opponents who finished third in last year’s competition, Malacca claimed full points in the Group B opening match when Amir Wafiq Aizat converted a penalty corner in the 20th minute.
   Malacca manager R. Manogaran said the result was tremendous considering three of the team’s key players from the Bukit Jalil and Bandar Penawar sport schools only arrived a few hours before the match.
   “They took the bus here from their schools and they were obviously tired from the long journey but that did not stop them from playing their best hockey, especially goalkeeper Luqman (Nurharith Azman) who did well to keep a clean sheet.
   “It was a pretty even game with both sides having ample scoring chances but it was us who found the lucky break from one of the penalty corners and although it is still early days, we are now more confident that our semi-final aim is within reach,” he said.
   Negri Sembilan manager R. Subramaniam said it was unfortunate that his team failed to take advantage of their numerous scoring chances throughout the morning match at Batu Buruk Hockey Stadium.
   “We enjoyed a bigger share of possession, we controlled most of the match but they were the ones who scored.
   “It’s a disappointing result but we can’t let one defeat dictate the whole of the tournament as we are here to at least secure a semi-final berth and that is what we are going do,” he said.
   In the Group A opening match, Kedah beat Sarawak 6-3.
   In the girls category, Terengganu had little trouble against Sarawak when the hosts went on a scoring spree late in the match, winning 6-2 at Gong Badak Hockey Stadium.
      RESULTS: Boys’ -- Group A: Kedah 6 Sarawak 3, Perak 8  Perlis 1, Penang x Sabah x.
    Group B: Negri Sembilan 0 Malacca 1, Terengganu 1  Pahang 3, Selangor x Kelantan x.
    Girls’: Group A: Sarawak 2 Terengganu 6, Malacca 5  Pahang 1.
    Group B: Kelantan 1 Penang 6.
   TODAY: Boys’ -- Group A: Kuala Lumpur v Perlis, Kedah v  Sabah, Perak v Sarawak.
    Group B: Johor v Malacca, Terengganu v Kelantan, Negri  Sembilan v Pahang.
   Girls’: Group A: Kuala Lumpur v Malacca.
    Group B: Selangor v Johor, Kuala Lumpur v Malacca.

Wish rests on flickers...

IT WAS National Junior’s hockey coach K. Dharmaraj’s  birthday yesterday, and he made a wish which his two  penalty corner flickers will have to work doubly hard to  deliver in the Junior World Cup in New Delhi on Dec 6-16.
    Malaysia, the Junior Asia Cup champions, have a fighting  chance to progress into the knock-out stages as they have to  beat at least two teams from Group D which also has South  Africa, New Zealand and England.
    And the coach has made his wish: “When I was young,  every time when my birthday arrives, my mother would say  ’close your eyes and make a wish sincerely and your wish  would come true because the angels are listening, but you  can’t tell others your wish because it’s secret.’
   “I am 44 today (yesterday). I have made my wish, and will  have to wait until Dec 16 (one day after the Junior World Cup  ends) to see its outcome,” said Dharmaraj.
      Defender Zulhairi Hashim and forward Shahril Saabah are  the two penalty corner flickers which Malaysia will rely  heavily upon to score in New Delhi, and yesterday, they were  hard at work with former India international Len Aiyappa.
     “I have been working with these players on an off since the  beginning of the year and there has been tremendous  improvement in their attempts,” said Len at the National  Stadium in Buklit Jalil yesterday.
    Len was India’s best drag flicker until he retired from  national duty following a fallout with the Indian Hockey  Federation in 2006 but has been in touch with the sport by  representing Italian club side Cernusco from 2008-2012.
    Shahril, 19 and from Terengganu, was top-scorer in the  Sultan of Johor Cup, when he scored eight goals in six  matches.
     And Kuala Lumpur-born Zulhairi, 21, scored three goals in  three friendly matches against the Indian juniors in New  Delhi.
    Dharmaraj will name his final squad of 18 on Nov 21: “I  already have confirmed 15 players who played in the Sultan  of Johor Cup, while the remaining 11 in the training pool will  fight for the three spots,” said Dharmaraj.
     Malaysia open accounts against New Zealand (Dec 6), then  South Africa (Dec 8) and finally England (Dec 9). And they  need to finish top-two to qualify for the crossover quar terfinals with Group C opponents.
    And Group C has India, Netherlands, South Korea and  Canada.

Off for Korea stint..

THE Malaysian senior hockey squad will head for South  Korea from Nov 22 to Dec 2 for a five-match friendly with the  Korean national side.
    Coach Paul Revington picked a mixed-team again, as he  included former players like Madzli Ikmar, Ahmad Kaza mirul and Engku Malik to gauge their performance ahead of  next year’s World Cup at the Hague, Netherlands.
    The senior side has played in the Australian 9s and the  Asian Champions Trophy with a mixed side, and won bronze  meals on both occasions.
    And after the team returns, some of them will be included  in the Myanmar Sea Games squad, where hockey will be  played form Dec 13-21.
     For the record, the Malaysian men’s team only lost the gold  medal in the 1973 Sea Games in Singapore.
    In the Sea Games, the men will be up against Myanmar,  Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
   The women will play against  Thailand, Singapore, In donesia, Cambodia and Myanmar.
   And after winning bronze in the recent Asian Champions  Trophy, the Malaysian women are hot favourites for the gold  as well.
    Hockey is making a comeback into the Sea Games, as it was  last played in 2007 in Korat. Vientiane (2009)  and Jakarta (2011) Sea Games did not feature hockey.
    KOREA TOUR -- Goalkeepers: Roslan Jamaluddin, Kair ulnizam Ibrahim; Defenders: Ahmad Kazamirul, Azlan Mis ron, Baljit Singh, Engku Malik, Madzli Ikmar, Razie Rahim.
    Midfielders: Amirullah Zainol, Jivan Mohan, Shukri Mu talib, Azammi Adabi, Marhan Jalil.
     Forwards: Amir Farid Fuzi, Dedy Ariyadi, Faizal Saari,  Ramadan Rosli, Nabil Fiqri.
     Fixtures: Nov 23 -- Malaysia v South Korea (Game 1); Nov  26: Malaysia v South Korea (Game 2); Nov 28: Malaysia v  South Korea (Game 3); Nov 30: Malaysia v South Korea  (Game 4); Dec 2: Malaysia v South Korea (Game 5).

1Mas re-structuring begins

THE 1Mas Hockey programme will be entering into its  fourth year in January, and plans are afoot to bring out the  coaches and players from their comfort zone.
   “After three years, we have 18 centres (14 states and four  outsourced) and while some are active, others have needed  constant monitoring to bring out the coaches as well as  players from their comfort zone.
   “And where complacency has crept in, the new re-structuring will make sure they become performance based  again,” said 1Mas Project Director Lim Chiow Chuan.
     From January, centres will be classified into four different  categories, where funding will also play a big role in keeping  coaching staff on their toes.
    “Following the Steering Committee meeting (on Oct 30), it  was decided that the program will be re-structured which  will involve classification of centres into different categories.  This exercise is vital and necessary to improve the quality  and take the program to a higher level.
     The centres will be categorised from Class One to Four,  with Class One being best performers and Class Four being  poor performers.
    “The classification of centres will also determine the  amount of allowances payable to coaches support staff.  Centres in the higher bracket will be receiving better remunerations,” said Chiow Chuan.
    A head coach, with all the required qualifications, can earn  up to RM2,250 by running the weekend coaching centre at  his state.
    Right now, most of the age-group tournaments have shown  some improvement in skills, as 1Mas players are the preferred choice.
   “From our observations, the age-group tournaments that  were held this year saw a large number of 1Mas players being  selected to represent their states as these players have  already been taught the basics.
    “Also the Under-16 team that players regularly in the  Mannheim (Germany) tournament has seen a big jump in the  number of 1Mas players selected. In 2011, there was only one  1Mas player, 2012 seven 1Mas players, and this year there  were eight 1Mas players selected to represent Malaysia,”  said Chiow Chuan.
   

Malaysia 3 Egypt 2..

NOTE: Malaysia won the fourth friendly 6-3.
THE Malaysian juniors hockey team beat Egypt 3-2 in an unfriendly friendly which was saw more pushing and
shoving, than hockey, at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jallil yesterday.
   Egypt are down for a four-match friendly, and Malaysian juniors won the first match 2-0, and drew the second 3-3.
The fourth friendly will be played today.
   Yesterday, the umpires had to stop many situations which could have turned into free-for-all, as the Egyptians
play a robust style of hockey.
  All three Malaysian goals came off penalty corners as Zulhairi Hashim scored a brace while Shahril Saabah scored
the winner. The juniors were blunt in field attempts, as they could not convert the numerous sitters that came their
way.
   Egypt are in Group A of the World Cup, where they have Belgium, Germany and Pakistan for company.
  Malaysia are in a relatively easier group with England, New Zealand and South Africa for company in Group D, and
if they advance to the quatrer-finals, their opponets are likely to be either Netherlands or hosts India from Group C,
which also has Canada and South Korea.
  "The Egypt friendlies are being use to test 11 fringe players who are fighting for three more spots in the World Cup
squad. I am giving less time to the 15 other regulars, as I try and find the final three to make the squad," said
Malaysian coach K. Dharmaraj.
   Dharmaraj also said yesterday's friendly got off on the wrong foot.
   "The earlier two matches were good hockey, but there were too many dangerous tackles in today's matches and
Iwill not risk my core players against Egypt in the last friendly," said Dharmaraj.
    The national juniors will play two matches with the seniors after this, and have lined up three more matches with
Germany, Australia and France in New Delhi before they take New Zealand on Dec 6 followed by matches against
South Africa (Dec 8) and England ( Dec 9).