U-14 :: Champs Perak start off with a resounding win

Perak began their defence of the national Under-14 hockey title with a 5-1 rout of Pahang in a Group A match at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium yesterday.

Mohamed Najib opened accounts for Perak in the third minute and goals by Mohamed Zulhamizan (8th) and Nor Ikhwan (14th) gave their team a 3-0 first-half lead. Perak scored second-half goals through Mohamed Khairul Adha (34th) and Mohamed Ikhwan Rashid (40th) before Mohamed Adil Syaffiq pulled a goal back for Pahang in the 64th minute.

In Group B, last year’s runners-up Kuala Lumpur slumped to an opening match defeat (0-2) by Negri Sembilan.

Field goals from Mohamed Fakhrul Radzi and Mohamed Ikhwan Ishak in the 23rd and 42nd minutes respectively gave Negri full points.

However, KL coach K. Rajan took the defeat in his stride and said that his team would bounce back in their remaining group matches.

“The top two teams make the semi-finals and we are not out of it yet. The defeat by Negri has made our task a little harder but we will be back on track, starting with the match against Selangor tomorrow,” he said.

In another Group A match, Penang also flexed their muscles with a 4-1 win over Kelantan while Malacca and Selangor played to a 1-1 draw in Group B.

Mohamed Rahimi and Mohamed Azuah Abdul Rahman scored a brace each for Penang while Mohamed Sazuan was on target for Kelantan.

Results

Group A: Perak 5 Pahang 1; Penang 4 Kelantan 1.

Group B: K. Lumpur 0 N. Sembilan 2; Malacca 1 Selangor 1.

Today's fixtures

Group A: Perlis vs Kelantan (9am), Perak vs Penang (5pm).

Group B: Terengganu vs Malacca (7.30am); K. Lumpur vs Selangor (3pm),

* All matches at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium