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THE Malaysian women's team will play Ghana in the quarter-finalss of the World League Round Two in New Delhi today, with coach Nasihin Nubli's charges the hot favourites to advance into the semis.
Malaysia have been on fire in the pool matches as they thumped Kazakhstan 8-0, Russia 3-0 and Singapore 5-0, without letting in any goals to top Group B.
Ghana on the other hand finished last in Group A and even lost 13-0 to India.
Anticipating a good game ahead, Malaysia coach Nasihin Nubli said: "Winning all three matches in Group B had definitely motivated the players a lot but as we enter the quarter-finals our aim is to book a berth in the finals of this tournament. We know we can beat Ghana but looking at their game against Poland yesterday (Ghana only lost 4-0), it might a little tougher than we expected. We trained on penalty corner variations today (yesterday) and hopefully early goals will make the match easier to dominate."
TODAY: quarter-finals: Malaysia v Ghana (3.45pm Malaysian time); Kazakhstan v Thailand; Poland v Russia; India v Singapore.
LEAGUE champions SSTMI Thunderbolts were given an early shock, but went on the beat SSP-MSP Thunderbolts 5-1 in the first leg semi-finals of the MHC-Milo-NSC Milo Cup at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
SSTMI Thunderbolts virtually booked a spot in the Milo Cup final even before playing the return leg on Friday.
However, at the adjacent pitch, UniKL Young Guns had to bring out their best to edge Petaling Jaya City Council (PJCC) 2-0 to keep their hopes alive of playing in the final.
UniKL got their goals off Maxhans Christi in the 25th minute, while the second goal was scored by Shamsul Aliff in the 58th.
SSTMI took a 2-0 lead off Luqman Hakim (34th) and Aliff Syazwan (36th) but were shocked when their Pahang counter-parts narrowed the score off Idris Samad (44th). But Amirul Hamizan (58th), Nik Aiman (61st) and Aliff again in the (67th)delivered for SSTMI and they look set to defend their Milo Cup title on Sunday.
For the record, UniKL and PJCC played to a 1-1 draw in the league: "I am proud of my players because they showed great drive even though we did not have three key players today as they were out because of suspension and injuries. The bench showed that it has the strenght to contribute towards the success of the team," said UniKL coach I. Vickneswaran.
PJCC team manager Zainal Abidin looked dejected, but said two goals is not too difficult to chase in the return leg.
"We missed all our penalty corner chances (five in total) and this is quite unusual for my players. However, we are not giving up the final slot, as I believe my charges have the capabilities to make a comeback in the return leg," said Zainal.
RESULTS: Semi-finals First Leg: SSTMI Thunderbolts 5 SSP-MSP Thunderbolts 1; UniKL Young Guns 2 Petaling Jaya City Council 0.
TOMORROW: Semi-finals Second Leg: SSTMI Thunderbolts v SSP-MSP Thunderbolts (National Stadium Pitch I, 5.30pm); UniKL Young Guns v Petaling Jaya City Council (National Stadium Pitch II, 5.30pm).
NOTE: Malaysian men lost 6-0 to Australia national side in their Down Under Tour.
AS Expected, the Malaysian women's hockey team beat Singapore 5-0 to finish tops in Group B of the World League Round Two in New Delhi yesterday.
After beating Kazakhstan 8-0, the Malaysian women went on to beat Russia 3-0 and then Singapore to enter the quarter-finals stage on a high.
Malaysian will play winless Ghana in the last eight, and are expected to breeze into the semis where they are expected to face their toughest hurdle in Poland to lay their hands on one of the two tickets to the World League Semi-finals.
For the record, the women have never qualified for the World League Semi-finals before.
Yesterday, Fazilla Sylvester Silin started the Singapore rout with a field goal in the 24th minute, and she went on to notch a hat-trick with goals in the 32nd and 45th minutes. The other goals were scored by Rabiatul Mohamed (26th) and Nurul Mansur (41st).
Malaysia had whacked Singapore 10-0 in WL Round One, so naturally coach Nasihin Nubli was a little worried: "We missed many scoring chances in the first quarter and our penalty corneers were also not very sharp today (yesterday). We can't afford this in the knock-out stages, so I will use the rest day before the quarters to re-drill these areas."
The stakes are very high in New Delhi as only the finalists get another shot at qualifying for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro, while one more spot will be made available to the highest ranked team which finishes third in the World League Round Two tournaments around the world.
"We should beat Ghana, and our likely semi-finals opponents are Poland going by the form of teams in Group A. We did play a friendly against Poland before the tournament and won 1-0, so nothing is impossible for my charges if they put their hear in the game," said Nasihin.
UniKL Young Guns skipper Zul Pidaus Mizun is eager to face his former club Petaling Jaya City Council (PJCC) in the MHC-Milo-NSC Milo Cup semi-finals at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil Wednesday .
Last season, the 19-year-old skippered PJCC to a third place finish in the Milo Cup, and he is now looking to lead UniKL into the final.
Pidaus missed out on the league encounter with his former club which ended in a 1-1 draw as he was suspended, and hopes his presence will see a better result for UniKL.
“It was frustrating to watch the league match (against PJCC) from the stands. But here is another chance for me to go up against my former team-mates.
“I know every player in PJCC personally and probably that can be considered as an added advantage for us," said Pidaus.
However, it won't be easy for the university side as they will be missing the services of two key players for the first leg of the semis as Hafif Elkan is out due to injury while Norsyafiq Sumantri is suspended.
Pidaus added: “Both of them play vital roles in the squad, so we will have to find a way to deal with the first leg without them.”
PJCC will have their full squad, and head coach Azlansaufi Ahmad Sufian is aiming to make the final: “They (UniKL) have a very strong squad with the backing of eight national juniors and with that stat alone it clearly shows that they have the upper hand against us.
“However, on a positive note we held them to a 1-1 draw in the league and my players are now more confident than before and that is the plus point I hope will take us into the final."
WEDNESDAY: Semi-finals first leg: SSTMI Thunderbolts v SSP-MSP Thunderbolts (National Stadium I, 5.30pm); Petaling Jaya City Council v UniKL Young Guns (National Stadium II, 5.30pm).
Pic: Coach Nasihin Nubli with his angels after they beat Russia 3-0.
THE Malaysian women's hockey team are poised to top Group B of the World League Round Two in New Delhi Tuesday as Singapore have shown disappointing form in the tournament.
And the fact that Malaysia beat Singapore 10-0 enroute to becoming champions in Round One of the World League is also a strong indicator of how the match is going to end.
Malaysia have scored a total of 11 goals in the last two matches, and look primed to meet Ghana in the quarter-finals and should have no problems reaching the semi-finals in New Delhi.
"So far everything is going as planned as we prepare to play Singapore. Even though we have beaten them at their own backyard by a huge margin it does not mean we will take them lightly.
"Our target here (New Delhi) is to play in the final and qualify for the WL Semi-finals for the first time," said Malaysian coach Nasihin Nubli.
And thats why the coach will expect his players to give their best in every match: "We will play Singapore like it is the final of the tournament. This is to make sure my charges do not lose steam heading towards the knock-out. We need to sharpen our penalty corners as well as goal scoring skills and the Singapore match will not be taken lightly."
In Group A, India should emerge as champions after they play Thailand today, and are one of the potential finalists.
TUESDAY: Group A: Ghana v Poland; India v Thailand.
Group B: Malaysia v Singapore; Kazakhstan v Russia.
GROUP A
P W D L F A Pts
India 2 2 0 0 15 0 6
Poland 2 1 0 1 4 3 3
Thailand 2 1 0 1 4 5 3
Ghana 2 0 0 2 1 16 0
GROUP B
P W D L F A Pts
Malaysia 2 2 0 0 11 0 6
Russia 2 1 0 1 7 3 3
Kzkhstan 2 1 0 1 4 8 3
Sgapore 2 0 0 2 0 11 0
