Qualifying 1 Update

Pool

Results

18 February 2012

14:00 Canada 9 – 0 Italy

18 February 2012

16:00 France 2 – 1 Poland

18 February 2012

20:00 India 15 – 1 Singapore

19 February 2012
12:00 Canada 2 – 3 Poland

19 February 2012
16:00 Singapore 0 – 9 France

19 February 2012
20:00 India 8 – 1 Italy

21 February 2012
14:00 Singapore 1 – 15 Canada

21 February 2012
16:00 Poland 7 – 2 Italy

21 February 2012
20:00 France 2 – 6 India

22 February 2012
12:00 Poland 11 – 3 Singapore

22 February 2012
16:00 Italy 0 – 3 France

22 February 2012
20:00 Canada 2 – 3 India

Men's field hockey Qualifying Tournaments for the 2012 Summer Olympics

The Men’s field hockey Qualifying Tournament for the 2012 Summer Olympics are qualification tournaments to determine the final three spots for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The qualifying tournaments, which involve 18 teams divided into three groups, with three separate qualifying tournaments, are to be held in India, Ireland and Japan, at different times in 2012. Only the winners of each qualifying tournament earn a berth in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Qualifying 1
Qualifying 1 will be held from February 16 to February 25, 2012 in New Delhi, India.

Venue
Dhyan Chand National Stadium

18 February 2012
14:00 Canada – Italy

18 February 2012
16:00 France – Poland

18 February 2012
20:00 India – Singapore

19 February 2012
12:00 Canada – Poland

19 February 2012
16:00 Singapore – France

19 February 2012
20:00 India – Italy

21 February 2012
14:00 Singapore – Canada

21 February 2012
16:00 Poland – Italy

21 February 2012
20:00 France – India

22 February 2012
12:00 Poland – Singapore

22 February 2012
16:00 Italy – France

22 February 2012
20:00 Canada – India

24 February 2012
14:00 Italy – Singapore

24 February 2012
16:00 France – Canada

24 February 2012
20:00 India – Poland

note : time zone GMT +5:30 hours

Qualifying 2
Qualifying 2 will be held from March 10 to March 18, 2012 in Dublin, Ireland.

Venue
National Hockey Stadium

10 March 2012
12:00 Korea – Ukraine

10 March 2012
14:15 Ireland – Russia

10 March 2012
16:30 Malaysia – Chile

11 March 2012
12:30 Korea – Chile

11 March 2012
14:45 Ukraine – Ireland

11 March 2012
17:00 Malaysia – Russia

13 March 2012
13:00 Ukraine – Malaysia

13 March 2012
15:30 Russia – Chile

13 March 2012
18:00 Ireland – Korea

15 March 2012
13:00 Russia – Ukraine

15 March 2012
15:30 Malaysia – Korea

15 March 2012
18:00 Chile – Ireland

17 March 2012
11:00 Korea – Russia

17 March 2012
13:15 Chile – Ukraine

17 March 2012
15:30 Ireland – Malaysia

note : time zone GMT

Qualifying 3
Qualifying 3 will be held from April 25 to May 6, 2012 in Kakamigahara, Japan.

Venue
TBD

26 April 2012
13:30 China – Austria

26 April 2012
16:00 Japan – Czech Republic

26 April 2012
18:30 South Africa – Brazil

28 April 2012
10:00 South Africa – Czech Republic

28 April 2012
12:30 Brazil – China

28 April 2012
15:00 Japan – Austria

30 April 2012
13:30 Austria – Czech Republic

30 April 2012
16:00 Brazil – Japan

30 April 2012
18:30 China – South Africa

2 May 2012
13:30 Austria – Brazil

2 May 2012
16:00 Japan – South Africa

2 May 2012
18:30 Czech Republic – China

4 May 2012
13:30 Czech Republic – Brazil

4 May 2012
16:00 China – Japan

4 May 2012
18:30 South Africa – Austria

note : time zone GMT +9:00 hours

MHL :: Seasoned Tiger Chairil still roaring

Former international Chairil Anwar is into his 20th season in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) and he still has a big part to play for Maybank in the Premier Division.

Chairil made his MHL debut for Kuala Terengganu Municipal Council in 1990. The following season, he was offered a job with Maybank and has since then featured for the Tigers in the MHL.

“It’s a record to have played in the MHL for the 19 years as most players would have retired by age of 35,” said the 37-year-old Terengganu-born forward.

“But I am still fit and can play as well as the good young players. I keep myself fit and will continue to play in the MHL as long as my services are needed.”

Chairil, who scored seven goals for the Tigers last year, added he would go all out to lead the forward-line and score goals from deflections.

“I am good with my deflections and definitely want to be on the score sheet in every match,” said the father of three children, who quit international hockey after the 2002 Busan Asian Games.

Besides Chairil, the other forwards in the team are Hafifihafiz Hanafi, Suhaimi Ibrahim, Hang Edzharsyay Hang Tuah, Mohd Azammi Adabi and Nor Khairul Azrain.

Coach S. Velappan said that Chairil’s services were valuable because of his ability to still play competitive hockey and to guide the younger players in the team.

“He also has good scoring ability from deflections and this will be the plus point for us,” he said.

Maybank finished fourth in a six-team league last year and were third in the overall championship.

The Tigers last won the league title in 1995 and were double champions the previous year. They also won the overall title in 1988 and 1990.

Maybank will open their campaign against Nur Insafi on Saturday at the Tun Razak Stadium.

The other teams in the Premier Division are Sapura, Tenaga Nasional, Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) and University Kuala Lumpur.

the competition takes a carnival atmosphere and besides the Tun Razak Stadium, matches will also be played in Penang, Malacca and Johor Baru.

The league will be played over two rounds with all six teams featuring in the knockout stage, which will also have the top two teams from Division One. The final is scheduled for Feb 12.

U-14 :: KL stun champs Perak to lift U-14 crown

Kuala Lumpur finally bagged their first title in the national Under-14 hockey tournament when they scored a 3-2 golden goal win over defending champions Perak 3-2 in the final at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium yesterday.

It was a repeat of last year’s final but this time the city side prevailed. The match ended 2-2 at regulation time but three minutes into extra time KL popped in the winner to claim their first title in the series.

The hero for the KL side was their penalty corner taker T. Athitsha who scored all three goals. He deservingly was voted the Man-of-the-Match.

KL coach K. Rajan was happy with his players’ commitment as they did not lose their cool despite falling behind at one stage.

“This is the title we have not won and we are glad to have pulled it off. The players did well and they have been improving with each game. Perak made a fight of it but our penalty corners made a difference in the final,” said Rajan.

In fact Perak too relied on the penalty corners for their goal as well.

Athitsha put KL in the lead after just four minutes into the game. Azril Misron put Perak back on level terms in the 23rd minute.

And Mohamed Amar gave the silver state the lead in the 46th minute to put pressure on the KL team.

In the 53rd minute Athitsha turned the match around to score his second goal to make it 2-2 and send the final into extra-time.

Three minutes into extra time saw KL gaining a penalty corner and Athitsha sounded the board to give his team the title.

Negri Sembilan took third place after a 1-0 win over Penang. The solitary goal was scored by Mohamed Ikhwan in the 24th minute.

MHL :: Tigers easily sweep aside foreign-powered Nur Insafi

Maybank swept aside Nur Insafi 5-2 in their opening match in the new Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.

The Nur Insafi team had registered 16 foreign players but only nine arrived for yesterday’s match. The presence of the foreign players did not affect the Tigers as they carved out an easy win.

The Tigers took a three-goal in the first half with three field attempts. Former international Suhaimi Ibrahim started the ball rolling with his attempt in the 22nd minute. This was followed by Mohamed Azammi Adabi and Hafifihafiz Hanafi in the 29th and 33rd minutes respectively

Sundeep Michael pulled a goal for Nur Insafi in the 36th minute but Azammi was on target for the Tiger two minutes later to keep them ahead.

Hairul Niizam made it 5-1 in the 50th minute with a penalty corner goal while Nur Hrisikesa added the second goal for Nur Insafi in the 70th minute.

Seven of Nur Insafi’s foreign players will only come next week. Their foreign players in action yesterday were Bharat Chetri, Kul Bhusant Ramesh Kumar, Sarvan Kumar, Lloyd Ronald Kiran, Sundeep Michael, Vinod Kumar, Mubeen Ur Rahman and Yasir Islam.

Another player Pakistani penalty corner specialist Syed Imran Al Warsi was with the team yesterday but will not be able to play until Dec 15. He is still under contract with a European club and cannot play until then.

Earlier, KL Hockey Club started off their debut season in the MHL with a 3-0 win over another newcomer University Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) in an earlier match.

The first half ended scoreless as both teams failed to create any good goal scoring chances. The match only came alive in the second half as KLHC, parading players from last year’s double winners Ernst and Young, scored thrice to collect full points.

KLHC skipper Azlan Misron started the scoring in the 36th minute from a penalty corner set-piece. This was followed by a field goal from Ismail Abu a minute later.

KLHC then began to dominate the proceedings and increased their lead in the 56th minute when Baljit Singh fired home a penalty corner.

KLHC coach R. Vivekanandan said that the important thing was to secure the three points.

UniKL paraded a lot of young players and they too were happy to have matched their more experienced opponents and not get a hammering.

Their coach I. Vicknesweran said it was an important match for them as they could gauge their strength.

“I am happy that my players showed they can The Premier Division league will resume on Dec 18.”

U-14 :: KL and Perak to meet in repeat U-14 final

Defending champions Perak and Kuala Lumpur set up a repeat final in the national Under-14 hockey tournament after scoring similar 2-1 victories in the semi-finals at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium yesterday.

Kuala Lumpur came from a goal down to edge Penang 2-1 while Perak downed Negri Sembilan 2-1 to set up a repeat of last year’s final.

And this time around, KL look good enough to win their first ever Under-14 title.

KL coach K. Rajan said his players have been showing improvement in each match and in fact could have won by a bigger margin against Penang in the semi-final.

“I am confident that we will do well in the final. We want to win the title and playing Perak will give us a chance to exact revenge for last year’s defeat,” said Rajan.

In yesterday’s semi-final, Penang took the lead in the 14th minute through a field goal by Mohamed Rahimi.

Mohamed Zulhafiq equalised for KL with a field goal two minutes before the end of the first half.

KL continued their aggressive play in the second half and was rewarded with the winner in the 52nd minute Nor Shafiq slotted home a penalty corner goal to put his team in the final.

Penang had gone into the match as the only unbeaten team after the preliminary round.

In the second match Negri were the favourites after their good showing in the preliminary round. And as expected they took the lead in the ninth minute through Badrul Hisham off a field attempt.

But Perak were back on level terms just two minutes later with a penalty corner strike from Mohamed Akhran.

The winner came in the 53rd minute when Mohamed Najib scored a field goal. And after that Perak held sway for the last 15 minutes to qualify for their second consecutive final.

MHL :: MHF bank on six-team league to re-ignite waning interest

Tenaga National and Sapura will provide the opening fireworks for the Premier Division of the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) at the Tun Razak Stadium here today.

The six-team league offers new ingredients that may well re-ignite interest in an ailing competition.

Besides the two former champions, the other teams in the fray are Maybank, Nur Insafi and two newcomers Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) and University Kuala Lumpur (UniKL).

And for the first time, matches will be played on a carnival basis and the other venues of competition are in Johor, Penang and Malacca.

The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) will bear the transportation cost and provide lodgings for travelling sides.

For the first time too, there will be live television coverage of preliminary round matches with the clash between Tenaga and Sapura coming on at 8.30pm on Astro Channel 816.

The MHF secretary, Hashim Mohamed Yusof, said that they hope the new features would lead to bigger things for the MHL.

“We want to generate greater interest in the MHL in other states. We hope that it will lead more teams to compete in the Premier Division,” he said.

“For now, we have six teams to keep the quality high. But if more teams can find the money to get good players, we will increase the numbers in the top flight. We are experimenting and hopefully we will see a keener competition this year.”

Although KLHC are the new kids on the block, they can be counted as one of the favourites to win the title. The club have all the players from the double-winning Ernst and Young side last year. Ernst and Young have decided to stop taking part in the MHL.

Penang outfit Nur Insafai are the other team coming in for attention. They have hired 16 foreign players in their rank, including star players in Pakistan’s Mohamed Nadeem and India’s V. S. Vinaya.

And whether they are really the team to beat this season will be indicated in their opening match against Maybank tomorrow.

Tenaga coach Nor Saiful Zaini said yesterday that the MHL was heading in the right direction with the changes but more must be done to ensure it remained competitive.

“I think it is a more open affair in the race for the title. This will allow for some good matches and create greater interest among the fans,” he said.

“The MHL had been dominated by a few teams for a long time. Let us hope that it will a change this year.”

The main reason for a few teams hogging the limelight previous was their financial resources to buy the best players.

But this year’s league will see the inclusion of more juniors in teams to even out the field. And with Nur Insafi adding the foreign glamour, this season’s MHL may well turn out to be the best in the series.