Saturday, November 22, 2008

MHL : Jiwa flies in weekly from Perth to play in the MHL

Jiwa Mohan has been travelling from Perth to Kuala Lumpur almost every week to play for Sapura in the Malaysia Hockey League — that’s 4,162km one way!

The 27-year-old, who has been working as a mechanical engineer in Perth since June, has played in six out of Sapura’s nine MHL matches. And he doesn’t mind the travelling.

“I love hockey and am very passionate about the game. I don’t mind travelling every week to play in the MHL. I have travelled from Perth to Kuala Lumpur five times since the league started last month,” said Jiwa, who has been representing Sapura for seven consecutive years.



“I believe I am the first hockey player in the MHL who travels from overseas almost every week to play in the league.

“I want to thank Sapura for paying for my air fares.”

Jiwa, who quit the national team after the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in May, joined a private company in Perth in June.

He was then invited by Curtin Trinity Pirates Club to play for them in the Perth hockey league. “That was the first time I played in the Australian league and I did extremely well by scoring 12 goals in 12 matches.

“It was a good experience playing in the Perth league, which ended in September,’’ said Jiwa, who flew in two days ago to get ready for Sapura’s match against the National Juniors at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium today.

Jiwa is bent on helping his team beat the Juniors and finish as runners-up in Division One.

“Then, we will go for the overall title,” said Jiwa, who was named the best player in the MHL in 2006 — the year Sapura won the overall title.

Jiwa was also the top scorer (23 goals) in the MHL last year, when they also finished second in the league and made it until the semi-finals in the knockout stage.

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