Women's MHL final Saturday

THE postponed women's Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) final has been scheduled for Saturday, but haze might derail it again.

  While the men completed their fixtures on schedule, the women's tournament was first shelved for 10 days to allow players to compete in the Junior Asia Cup in China from Sept 5-13.

  Then, the haze Air Pollutant Index reading in Bukit Jalil was 279.17 on Oct 3, and the final and bronze match had to be cancelled.

  Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) competitions secretary Hashim Yusoff is keeping his fingers crossed that Saturday will be a sunny day.

  "After four days of bad weather, today (THURSDAY) was much better and hopefully it rains or the wind shifts direction and the final and third-fourth matches can be completed," said Hashim.

  SSTMI Thunderbolts and PKS-KPM will play in the final while, ATM Pernama and Penang Juniors for the bronze.

  Both the finalists are form Group B, while the placing match will be between Group A teams.

  In the group stages, PKS KPM beat Thunderbolts 3-1, while ATM hammered Penang 7-3.

  The aces in PKS KPM are league top-scorer Fatin Naimah, nine goals, and Nuraini Rashid with eight goals -- both are national senior players.

  And the players to watch in Thunderbolts are Hanis Nadiah and Nurul Safiqah who each have scored four goals for their team.

  SATURDAY: Final: SSTMI Thunderbolts v PKS-KPM (6pm); Third-Fourth: ATM Pernama v Penang Juniors (4pm).

Britain SOJC champs

BRITAIN held India to a 2-2 draw and took them to a penalty shoot-out, for a 4-3, win to lift their maiden Sultan of Johor Cup title at the Taman Daya Stadium yesterday.
  It was a thrilling final, watched by about 6,000 fans, as Britain dug deep to deny India their third SOJC title.
  Britain started with a bang, only to be denied the lead as India came back strongly to equalise.
  Luke Taylor fired a rocket of a penalty corner in the fifth minute to take his tournament tally to 10 goals, but Harmanpreet Singh equalised also off a penalty corner in the 12th minute for his fourth SOJC goal.
  Gurjant Singh gave India the lead in the 42nd minute off a field attempt, but Jack Turner scored his first SOJC goal in the 46th to level accounts again to take the match to a penalty shoot-out.
  Meanwhile, SOJC organising chairman Manjit Majid Abdullah said after the success of hosting five editions, the Taman Daya Stadium will undergo a face-lift.
  "This is fast becoming the most sought after junior invitational tournament in the world and after hosting five editions, we will increase the seating of the Taman Daya Stadium from 3,000 to 6,000 next year.
  "And even though Pakistan have finished poorly in the last two editions (sixth both times) we will still invite them for the next edition to help the Asian country develop their youth," said Manjit.
  India and Britain are the other crowd favourites and will surely be included in the Sixth Edition, which will be held one month before the New Delhi World Cup to help Malaysia, hot favourites to qualify from the Junior Asia Cup, prepare for the JWC.
  ROLL-of-HONOUR: Fairplay: Australia; Top-scorer: Luke Taylor, Britain (10 goals); Best-Goalkeeper: Chris Wyver (Britain); Player of the Tournament: Harjeet Singh (India).

SOJC: Bronze for Malaysia

MALAYSIA snatched the bronze from the jaws of a gritty Argentina when they beat them 3-2 in the Sultan of Johor Cup at the Taman Daya Stadium yesterday.
  The hosts won a total of five penalty corners and scored three, while Argentina failed to convert even a single out of the six they won.
  "The last game of a tournament is always crucial for any team, and I am very satisfied with how my players performed to win the bronze.
  "I am a coach who likes to push my players to the limit and finally, I think they broke the glass ceiling above their heads and that's why they performed exceptionally today (yesterday)," said Malaysian coach Arul Selvaraj.
  The only casualty of the tournament was Meor Azuan, who tore a hamstring 20 leading to the Junior Asia Cup.
  "As for the SOJ, it is the only invitational tournament in the world that offers juniors a chance to grow into men. The Malaysian team is grateful to the organisers who did a wonderful job yet again," said Arul.
  Under hazy conditions, Malaysia gave a good account of themselve in 35 minutes of play as they took a 2-1 lead into the breather.
  Malaysian on a total of three penalty corners, and Shahril Saabah scored his eight goal of the tournament in the seventh minute.
  But Argentina equalsied three minutes later when Santiago Tarazona broke free and nailed a field attempt.
  There was another controlled display from Malaysia after the equaliser, and they won their second penalty coener in the 17th minute and this time, Najmi Jazlan stepped up and scored his third goal of the SOJC.
  With a slim 2-1 lead, Malaysia trooped into the dressing room for a 10-minute 'chat' with coach Arul Selvaraj.
  The break brought our a refreshed Malaysia, and in the 41st minute, off their fourth penalty corner, Najmi perfected a drive which almost tore the netting and Malaysia took a comfortable 3-1 lead with plenty of playing time left.
  Argentina kept their fire burning, when a mistrap from defender Zulpidaus Mizun in the 52nd minute saw the ball rise above the head of Argentine Nicolas Keenan who raised his stick and slammed the ball in for 2-3.
  Malaysia went into trouble mode after that, as two players were sent to the sin-bin, reducing the numbers. Firdaus Omar was green carded in the 54th, while skipper Najib Hassan yellow carded in the 55th.
  But they kept their cool, and even defended three back-to-back penalty corners to stop the bronze from travelling to Argentina.
   RESULTS: Fifth-Sixth: Pakistan 0 Australia 5; Third-Fourth: Malaysia 3 Argentina 2; Final: India x Britain x.

SOJC: Now to keep bronze in Malaysia

MALAYSIA beat Pakistan 3-1 to book a date with Argentina in the third-fourth playoff of the Sultan of Johor Cup at the Taman Daya Stadium Saturday.
  In the pool match, Malaysia and Argentina drew 2-2, but the bronze battle is expected to be tougher.
  India and Britain will play for the Fifth Edition gold.
  "This is the kind of commitment I am looking from my players in no only the remaining match against Argentina, but also in the Junior Asia Cup in Kuantan.
  "My boys took an early lead, and played well to defend it even though Pakistan placed them under tremendous pressure. Of course, we will be going for the bronze medal now, and Argentina are not invincible if we play our game," said Malaysian coach Arul Selvaraj.
  Malaysia scored two quick goals inside eight minutes to take a firm grip of the situation, and remained cool in the entire first half to deny Pakistan a comeback.
  Off the three penalty corners won in the first half, Shahril Saabah scored the first in the fourth, missed the second, and Najmi Jazlan tucked in the third penalty corner in the seventh minute.
  With a good lead, Malaysia toyed around with Pakistan and only relied on counter attacks, but could not increase the lead.
  Pakistan were the better team after the 10 minute break, but good goalkeeping from Ridzwan Azmi kept the score in favour of Malaysia.
  Shahril scored his seventh goal of the tournament to hand Malaysia a handsome lead, with a reverse stick attempt in the 62nd minute and Pakistan were doomed to play for the fifth-sixth against Australia.
  Pakistan scored their consolation in the 68th off Abu Mahmood, but time ran out on them. A final minute shoving and pushing saw Shahril and Pakistan goalkeeper Muhammad Khalid flashed the yellow card -- but it made no difference to the scoreline.
  India will play Britain in a repeat final, and a chance to lift a hat-trick of SOJC titles.
  Yesterday, Britain beat Argentina 3-0 while India beat Australia 1-0 in their final pool matches.
  In the final last year, the score was tied at 1-1 before India scored 45 seconds from time to lift their second title.
  "It will be a well contested final, as both teams are at their best right now. Britain has good structure, and my players must think out of the box to win," said India coach Harendra Singh.
  In the pool, India lost 3-4 to Britain.
  RESULTS: Argentina 0 Britain 3, Australia 0 India 1, Malaysia 3 Pakistan 1.
   TODAY: Fifth-Sixth: Pakistan v Australia (3.05pm); Third-Fourth: Malaysia v Argentina (5.35pm); Final: India v Britain (8.35pm).


STANDINGS
               P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
INDIA          5  4  0  1  14 8  12
BRITAIN        5  3  2  0  15 9  11
MALAYSIA       5  2  1  2  11 11 7
ARGENTINA      5  2  1  2  8  9  7
AUSTRALIA      5  1  1  3  12 11 4
PAKISTAN       5  0  1  4  5  17 1 

SOJC: Good tournament for Malaysia

INDIA coach Harendra Singh walked into the Press Conference after beating Malaysia 2-1 in the Sultan of Johor Cup and surprised the gallery when he congratulated Malaysia for their fighting spirit.
  "First of all, congratulations to Malaysia for giving us such a good fight. It was a close game and penalty corners won us the match," said Harendra.
 Back-to-back SOJC champions India are on course for their hat-trick of titles, but not before Malaysia gave them a fight of their lives.
  Even though Malaysia will not be playing in the final of the SOJC, but fighting with Pakistan for the third-fourth classification spot, coach Arul Selvaraj's charges have shown tremendous progress in just four matches.
  Starting with a 4-2 defeat in the hands of Britain, Malaysia's graph went upwards when they held Argentina 2-2 and then beat Australia 3-2.
  Against India, the only mistake Malaysia made were to give away too many penatly corners, and were punished by two goals from Harmanpreet Singh.
  It were the first two goals of the tournament for Harmanpreet, whose penalty corners were not effective in the earlier matches.
  Comparatively, Shahril Saabah scored his fifth penalty corner goal against India and is second on the top-scorers list.
  Malaysia and India are in Group A of the Junior Asia Cup, where the semi-finalists are assured of a spot in the New Delhi Junior World Cup next year.
   The other teams in Group A are Japan and China. The teams in Group B are Pakistan, South Korea, Oman and Bangladesh.
   "We are in the same group as India in the Junior Asia Cup so this match was very important for our players to get a feel before the cruncher in Kuantan," said Malaysian coach Arul Selvaraj.
  The Asia Cup format is in line with the International Hockey Federation (FIH), where all eight teams will play in the quarter-finals, and one win here will place the team in the Junior World Cup.
  Thats why the match aganst Pakistan today, our possible cross-over opponents in Kuantan, is not just another fixture to complete.
  "We will have two missions in the match against Pakistan. First is to to beat them and hopefull play in the third-fourth classification. And secondly, size them up for the Junior Asia Cup," said Arul.
  Pakistan's only fabulous run in this tournament was 0-0 draw with Britain.
  However, Arul must keeep his fingers crossed that India beat Australia in the earlier match, and only then will the door open for Malaysia as Australia have a better goal-average.
  But if the equations go wrong today, Arul can still take comfort in playing Pakistan twice, in the fifth-sixth classification -- for two 'friendlies' before the Junior World Cup qualifier.    
 SATURDAY: Argentina v Britain (4.35pm), Australia v India (6.3pm), Malaysia v Pakistan (8.35pm).

STANDINGS


               P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
INDIA          4  3  0  1  13 8  9
BRITAIN        4  2  2  0  12 9  8
ARGENTINA      4  2  1  1  8  6  7
AUSTRALIA      4  1  1  2  12 10 4
MALAYSIA       4  1  1  2  8  10 4
PAKISTAN       4  0  1  3  4  14 1