Junior Asia Cup: Avoid China drubbing...

THE MALAYSIAN women's team must brace themselves from a double digit humiliation when they face China in the Junior Asia Cup at the Wujin National Hockey Stadium in Changzhou Monday.
  China and India are the early favourites to qualify for the Junior World Cup as, three spots are on on offer in this tournament.
  And unfortunately, both the giants are in Group A with Malaysia. India opened their campaign by whipping North Korea 13-0, and Singapore 12-0 Sunday.
  Coach Lailin Abu Hassan is well aware that China would be an uphill battle.
  "The 2-0 win against Singapore (on Saturday), despite providing us valuable three points, left us in an extremely undesirable position as our captain, (Surizan Awang Noh) picked up an injury on her left knee.
  "There is a high chance that the skipper, along with Nurain Hidayah who pulled a hamstring muscle in the same match, will not be fielded for our match against China", said Lailin.
  Surizan was injured after she collided with a Singapore player whilst jostling for a loose ball.
  Against Singapore, Malaysia had 10 penalty corners but only managed to only convert two off direct hits.
   "We lacked ideas against a team that practically camped in their own semi-cirle. Our penalty corner conversion rate need to be much better against China, because we might not win as many as we did in the first game.
  "Also, there is an imperative need for midfield creativity. We will analyse our game, as well as the opponents and strive for a better performance against one of the region's hockey powerhouse," Lailin added.
  Group A: China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, North Korea.
  Group B: South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan.
  MONDAY: Malaysia v China; Wednesday: Malaysia v North Korea; Thursday: Malaysia v India.
  MALAYSIA HOCKEY LEAGUE -- RESULTS: Division One Group A: TNB Thunderbolts 4 MSN-THT 0, MSSP-YP-SSP 3 Masum-USM 5.
  Group B: Politeknik x UniKL Young Guns x, SSTMI 2 UiTM 3, Nur Insafi 1 ATM Airod 3.
  Women's Group A: The Cops x ATM Pernama x.

Junior Asia Cup: Malaysia beat Singapore 2-0

THE Malaysian women's hockey team got off to a good start in the Junior Asia Cup when they beat Singapore 2-0 in Changzhou, China, yesterday.
  Two goals in each half from Hanis Onn and Nurul Safiqah Isa, was enough for three points. The women next play China, and it will be uphill all the way.
  Yesterday India, who are also in Malaysia's group, hammered North Korea 13-0.
  Three teams from Changzhou qualify for the Junior World Cup.
  Group A: China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, North Korea.
  Group B: South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan.
  MONDAY: Malaysia v China; Wednesday: Malaysia v North Korea; Thursday: Malaysia v India.

Tenaga the Premier Division spark...

Faizal Saari top of the world after helping THT win the Premier Division title.

THE Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division was again a two-horse race, as four other teams were left in the shadows early in the season.
  From the start till the end, 10 home-and-away matches each, Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) and Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) were the sprinters, while Sapura, Tenaga Nasional, Maybank and UniKL were left gasping for breath.
  The fact that third-placed Sapura were 10 points off champions THT paints the picture of the MHL.
  THT, with four Argentines and a Pakistani, outplayed KLHC 5-4 at their home turf at Batu Buruk -- witnessed by about 3,500 fans in a stadium which can only seat 2,000.
  KLHC, with six Pakistan players, were actually undone by Sapura, whom then drew 4-4 and 3-3 earlier.
  However, even in the shadows, there is a story to be told by title sponsors Tenaga Nasional.
  Tenaga were the only team who opted out of buying foreign players, not because they can't afford it, because they believed in developing youth.
  Six Project 2016 players powered Tenaga to finish fourth, with five wins and five narrow defeats.
  Comparatively, the bottom two teams Maybank and UniKL had foreign signings. UniKL also had 10 Project 2016 players, but they did not shine as bright as Tenaga's six Project boys.
  The Premier Division enters its knock-out stage, with THT and KLHC seeded and await the bottom four teams play in a home-and-away 'quarter-finals' on Sept 11 and 13.
  But its predictable that the TNB Cup will again be a toss between KLHC and THT.

PREMIER DIVISION
FINAL STANDINGS

                P       W       D       L       F       A       Pts

TERENGGANU HT 10 9 0 1 35 17 27
KLHC                        10 7 2 1 32 19 23
SAPURA               10 5 2 3 22 22 17
TENAGA              10 5 0 5 17 22 15
MAYBANK             10 1 1 8 17 28 4
UNIKL                     10 0 1 9 17 31 1


  RESULTS: Division One: Group A -- MBI x BJSS x; Women's Group B: MSN Kedah x KL Sukma x.
  TODAY: Division One Group A: TNB Thunderbolts v MSN-THT (SSTMI, 5pm), MSSP-YP-SSP v Masum-USM (Kuantan, 5pm).
  Group B: Politeknik v UniKL Young Guns (Taman Daya, 5pm), SSTMI v UiTM (SSTMI, 7pm), Nur Insafi v ATM Airod (Sungai Petani, 5pm).
  Women's Group A: The Cops v ATM Pernama (Pitch I, 7pm).

A great tribute to Satwant Singh...

THT keep title with 5-4 win

TERENGGANU Hockey Team (THT) had to bring out their best to defend their League title, when they edged Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) 5-4 at the Batu Buruk Stadium in Kuala Terengganu yesterday.
  THT lifted the title on 27 points, for a purse of RM70,000 while KLHC received RM50,000 and completed the League on 23 points.
  The THT star yesterday was national player Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, who opened scoring in the fourth minute, and delivered the winner in the 60th minute.
  The other THT goals were scored by Fitri Saari (13th), Firhan Ashaari (32nd) and Faizal Saari (49th).
  KLHC took the lead off Nabil Fiqri in the fourth, and Razie Rahim (34th, 47th) and Noor Faeez Ibrahim (50th) made it 4-4 and even though a draw was enough for them to lift the litle, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin made sure with a 60th minute goal.
  The stadium, with a capacity of 2,000, was packed to the brim with an estimated 3,500 fans who went wild with celebrations after their team defended their title.
  Coach Sarjit Singh was elated with the commitment of their players: "I was a super display from my players as they never gave up and took the fight to KLHC. The crowd also played a big part in our win, and I would like to thank them for their undying support."
  Menwhile Sapura finished third and pocketed RM40,000 when they edged Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) 3-2.
  Sapura ended with only a distant 17 points, but still managed to finish fifth in this two-horse league.
  For Sapura, Dangerous Lee (40th), Marhan Jalil (58th) and Muhammad Imran (60th) delivered the goals.
  Muhammad Sufi Ismat (11th) and Najmi Farizal (33rd) scored for UniKL.
  RESULTS: Premier Division (Round Two): UniKL 2 Sapura 3, Terengganu Hockey Team 5 Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club 4, Maybank 1 Tenaga 2.
  Division One: Group A -- MBI 2 TNB Thunderbolts 2, Masum-USM 3 MSN-THT 1.
  Group B: SSTMI 1 UniKL Young Guns 2, Nur Insafi 2 PKS-KPM 2.
  Women: Group A -- The Cops 0 Politeknik 1.
  SATURDAY: Division One: Group A -- MBI v BJSS (Azlan Shah, 5pm); Women's Group B: MSN Kedah v KL Sukma (Padang Serai, 5pm).
  SUNDAY: Division One Group A: TNB Thunderbolts v MSN-THT (SSTMI, 5pm), MSSP-YP-SSP v Masum-USM (Kuantan, 5pm).
  Group B: Politeknik v UniKL Young Guns (Taman Daya, 5pm), SSTMI v UiTM (SSTMI, 7pm), Nur Insafi v ATM Airod (Sungai Petani, 5pm).
  Women's Group A: The Cops v ATM Pernama (Pitch I, 7pm).
  NOTE: National Hockey Stadium Bukit Jalil, unless stated.