National Juniors coach K. Rajan is satisfied with the overall performance of the team in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).
The Juniors, who are preparing for the Junior World Cup Finals scheduled for June 7-21, gave defending overall champions Tenaga Nasional a good fight in the two-leg quarter-final tie last week.
The Juniors, who finished sixth and last in Division One, drew 1-1 in the first leg and were beaten 2-4 in the return match.
Rajan said the players made steady progress in the MHL and he was happy with their fighting qualities.
“But there is still a lack of co-ordination among the players and I need to work on this,’’ said Rajan.
He added that the players would attend a one-week mental training camp in the first week of January before they leave for Sydney to play in the Youth Olympic Games from Jan 13-18. Their opponents in the competition are England, New Zealand and Australia.
Rajan added that the juniors would also play four friendly matches against club sides in Sydney.
“We will travel to Brisbane to play another six friendly matches against club sides before we return home in early February,’’ he said.
Rajan added that the team would also play in a six-nation invitational tournament at the Johor Hockey Stadium in March.
“We will go for a three-week playing tour of Europe in April and will have friendly matches against our counterparts in Holland, Germany and Belgium,’’ he said.
Malaysia will co-host the Junior World Cup Finals with Singapore. The Finals will feature 20 teams.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
MHL : Knockout Stage
Defender Mohd Amin Rahim scored a hat-trick to steer Tenaga Nasional to a hard-fought 4-2 win over the National Juniors in a Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) quarter-final second-leg match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
Defending overall champions Tenaga, who finished third in Division One, advanced to the semi-finals on a 5-3 aggregate. They will take on Division One runners-up Sapura for a place in the final.
Sapura, powered by two South Koreans, beat Division Two champions Jurutera Letrik Jentera (JLJ) 6-0 at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium to qualify for the semi-finals 11-0 on aggregate.
In Sapura’s rout of JLJ yesterday, Jiwa Mohan scored a hat-trick (28th, 37th and 51st) and the other goals came from P. Prabahkaran (47th), Mohd Faisal Kamaruddin (66th) and K. Keevan Raj (70th).
Ernst and Young also chalked up an easy 6-1 win over Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) at the Tun Razak Stadium to advance 18-1 on aggregate.
The scorers for the league champions yesterday were Ahmad Anuar Sham Kamar (4th, 10th), Mohd Amerullah Abdul Aziz (13th), Baljit Singh Sarjab (32nd) and Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim (56th). RMR replied through Mazalan Abdullah in the 46th minute.
In the semi-finals, Ernst and Young, who are gunning for their first overall title, will meet the winners of the tie between Nur Insafi and Maybank.
The semi-final first-leg matches will be held on Dec 19 and the return matches will be played on Dec 21.
In the match between Tenaga and the National Juniors, Amin Rahim converted a penalty corner to give the defending champions the lead in the 21st minute. Six minutes later, he made a penalty-stroke conversion before getting on target again in the 60th minute off a penalty corner.
Mohd Fairuz Ramli scored the fourth goal for Tenaga in the 67th minute. The two goals scored by the Juniors came off penalty corners through Nor Hafiq Abdul Gaffar (44th, 62nd).
Tenaga coach Lailin Abu Hassan said: “The Juniors really gave us a good fight until the last minute. I am also happy with Amin’s performance as he has got back his confidence in scoring goals.”
Defending overall champions Tenaga, who finished third in Division One, advanced to the semi-finals on a 5-3 aggregate. They will take on Division One runners-up Sapura for a place in the final.
Sapura, powered by two South Koreans, beat Division Two champions Jurutera Letrik Jentera (JLJ) 6-0 at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium to qualify for the semi-finals 11-0 on aggregate.
In Sapura’s rout of JLJ yesterday, Jiwa Mohan scored a hat-trick (28th, 37th and 51st) and the other goals came from P. Prabahkaran (47th), Mohd Faisal Kamaruddin (66th) and K. Keevan Raj (70th).
Ernst and Young also chalked up an easy 6-1 win over Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) at the Tun Razak Stadium to advance 18-1 on aggregate.
The scorers for the league champions yesterday were Ahmad Anuar Sham Kamar (4th, 10th), Mohd Amerullah Abdul Aziz (13th), Baljit Singh Sarjab (32nd) and Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim (56th). RMR replied through Mazalan Abdullah in the 46th minute.
In the semi-finals, Ernst and Young, who are gunning for their first overall title, will meet the winners of the tie between Nur Insafi and Maybank.
The semi-final first-leg matches will be held on Dec 19 and the return matches will be played on Dec 21.
In the match between Tenaga and the National Juniors, Amin Rahim converted a penalty corner to give the defending champions the lead in the 21st minute. Six minutes later, he made a penalty-stroke conversion before getting on target again in the 60th minute off a penalty corner.
Mohd Fairuz Ramli scored the fourth goal for Tenaga in the 67th minute. The two goals scored by the Juniors came off penalty corners through Nor Hafiq Abdul Gaffar (44th, 62nd).
Tenaga coach Lailin Abu Hassan said: “The Juniors really gave us a good fight until the last minute. I am also happy with Amin’s performance as he has got back his confidence in scoring goals.”
Friday, December 5, 2008
MHL : Knockout Stage
League champions Ernst and Young have virtually confirmed their place in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) semi-final after a thumping 12-0 win over the Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) in a quarter-final, first-leg match at the National Hockey Stadium yesterday.
Hat-trick hero Craig Fernandez was the toast for Ernst and Young. Baljit Singh Sarjab, Chua Boon Huat, Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim and Ismail Abu scored two goals each while Kelvinder Singh netted one.
Ernst and Young team manager George Koshy said he was surprised with the margin of victory over the Division Two runners-up.
“We never expected to score such a big win over RMR. It’s an excellent result for us and we are as good as assured of a semi-final place,” he said. “RMR are not in our class.”
Former champions Sapura can also start planning for the semi-finals after romping to a 5-0 win over Division Two champions Jurutera Letrik Jentera (JLJ).
Defending overall champions Tenaga Nasional, meanwhile, had to come back from a goal down to hold the National Juniors to a 1-1 draw at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium.
Hat-trick hero Craig Fernandez was the toast for Ernst and Young. Baljit Singh Sarjab, Chua Boon Huat, Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim and Ismail Abu scored two goals each while Kelvinder Singh netted one.
Ernst and Young team manager George Koshy said he was surprised with the margin of victory over the Division Two runners-up.
“We never expected to score such a big win over RMR. It’s an excellent result for us and we are as good as assured of a semi-final place,” he said. “RMR are not in our class.”
Former champions Sapura can also start planning for the semi-finals after romping to a 5-0 win over Division Two champions Jurutera Letrik Jentera (JLJ).
Defending overall champions Tenaga Nasional, meanwhile, had to come back from a goal down to hold the National Juniors to a 1-1 draw at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Asia Cup : Three places up for grabs in Women’s Junior Asia Cup
Nine teams will compete in the fifth Women’s Junior Asia Cup, which will be held at the Seremban Two Hockey Stadium from Dec 13-21.
The tournament offers three places for Asian teams to the 2009 Women’s Junior World Cup, which will be held in Boston, the United States, from Aug 3-18.
Defending champions China are in Group A with Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Pakistan while Group B comprises three-time champions South Korea, India, Singapore and Taiwan.
The nine teams have been divided into two groups and the top two from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
The Women’s Junior Asia Cup, the first international hockey tournament to be staged in Seremban, is organised by the women’s section of the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) and is jointly sponsored by the state government.
Asia is the only region yet to finalise its representatives for the 2009 Women’s Junior World Cup. So far 13 teams have secured their berths, including the United States.
The others who have secured their berths are Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Chile, Egypt, England, Spain, Germany, Lithuania, Holland, New Zealand and South Africa.
South Korea, champions in 1992, 1996 and 2000, are the favourites to claim one of the berths along with China, the winners in 2004.
Japan and India have always slugged it out for third place and will be seen as the biggest threats to Malaysia’s chances of making the cut for their first-ever Junior World Cup.
The Malaysian team will be handled by Yahya Atan, Tai Beng Hai and Mohd Nasihin Nubli and the final 18 will be named on Dec 6.
The tournament offers three places for Asian teams to the 2009 Women’s Junior World Cup, which will be held in Boston, the United States, from Aug 3-18.
Defending champions China are in Group A with Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Pakistan while Group B comprises three-time champions South Korea, India, Singapore and Taiwan.
The nine teams have been divided into two groups and the top two from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
The Women’s Junior Asia Cup, the first international hockey tournament to be staged in Seremban, is organised by the women’s section of the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) and is jointly sponsored by the state government.
Asia is the only region yet to finalise its representatives for the 2009 Women’s Junior World Cup. So far 13 teams have secured their berths, including the United States.
The others who have secured their berths are Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Chile, Egypt, England, Spain, Germany, Lithuania, Holland, New Zealand and South Africa.
South Korea, champions in 1992, 1996 and 2000, are the favourites to claim one of the berths along with China, the winners in 2004.
Japan and India have always slugged it out for third place and will be seen as the biggest threats to Malaysia’s chances of making the cut for their first-ever Junior World Cup.
The Malaysian team will be handled by Yahya Atan, Tai Beng Hai and Mohd Nasihin Nubli and the final 18 will be named on Dec 6.
MHL : Rajan losing sleep over National Juniors’ porous defence
National Juniors coach K. Rajan is having sleepless night worrying about his team’s porous defence.
The Juniors, who finished rock bottom in the six-team Division One, scored 15 goals but leaked in a whopping 38 goals in 10 matches.
And Rajan is worried about how they will cope against defending overall champions Tenaga Nasional in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) next week.
Tenaga finished third in Division One behind League champions Ernst and Young and Sapura.
The first-leg of the quarter-final match will be played at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Friday and the return-leg at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium two days later.
The National Juniors are competing in the MHL as part of their preparation for the Junior World Cup, which Malaysia will co-host with Singapore from June 7-21.
Rajan admitted that his defenders had been a huge let down in the League.
“They have let in soft goals. There is still a lack of understanding among the defenders,” he said.
“I am still trying to get the right combination of defenders for the Junior World Cup.”
The defenders are Ahmad Kazamirul Nasaruddin, Mohd Sybrie Shamsudin, Kavin Kartik, Mohd Noor Khairul Azrain, Mohd Nor Hafiq Abdul Gaffar and Mohd Sabri Mohd.
The Juniors, who finished rock bottom in the six-team Division One, scored 15 goals but leaked in a whopping 38 goals in 10 matches.
And Rajan is worried about how they will cope against defending overall champions Tenaga Nasional in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) next week.
Tenaga finished third in Division One behind League champions Ernst and Young and Sapura.
The first-leg of the quarter-final match will be played at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Friday and the return-leg at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium two days later.
The National Juniors are competing in the MHL as part of their preparation for the Junior World Cup, which Malaysia will co-host with Singapore from June 7-21.
Rajan admitted that his defenders had been a huge let down in the League.
“They have let in soft goals. There is still a lack of understanding among the defenders,” he said.
“I am still trying to get the right combination of defenders for the Junior World Cup.”
The defenders are Ahmad Kazamirul Nasaruddin, Mohd Sybrie Shamsudin, Kavin Kartik, Mohd Noor Khairul Azrain, Mohd Nor Hafiq Abdul Gaffar and Mohd Sabri Mohd.
MHL : Selva blow as Tenaga set out to defend overall title
Tenaga Nasional will not have the services of national forward S. Selvaraju in their defence of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) overall title.
The Taiping-born player, who returned from a successful stint in the German League with Berliner to play his first match in the MHL Division One against Sapura three weeks ago, is undergoing rehabilitation for a left thigh hamstring injury at the National Sports Institute (NSI).
Tenaga coach Lailin Abu Hassan said: “I don’t think he will recover in time for the knockout stage, starting next week.
“I also do not want to take the risk to field him as this may further aggravate the injury. We will miss his services.”
Lailin, who took charge of the team after K. Rajan’s appointment as coach of the National Juniors, added that with a weakened forwardline, the burden will be heavier in their bid to win the overall title again.
“It’s going to be a challenge for me as the new coach to help Tenaga retain the title,’’ he said.
Lailin said that he would have to bank on former international forwards, among them M. Kaliswaran, Mohd Fairuz Ramli, Mohd Fairuz Hamsani and Mahinder Singh, to deliver the goods.
“I am also worried with the team’s poor defence,” said Lailin.
“They have conceded 19 goals in 10 matches. The defenders have to cut down their mistakes and play a tighter game.’’
He added that defenders Baljit Singh Charun and Zaharin Zakariah would also have to tread with caution in the first match of the knockout stage, the quarter-finals.
“Both of them are on one yellow and one green card and if they receive another green card, they will be suspended for one match,” said Lailin.
The Malaysian Hockey Fede-ration (MHF) competition committee will decide on the dates of the knockout competition and make the draw today.
In Divison One of the MHL, Tenaga finished third behind champions Ernst and Young and Sapura.
The Taiping-born player, who returned from a successful stint in the German League with Berliner to play his first match in the MHL Division One against Sapura three weeks ago, is undergoing rehabilitation for a left thigh hamstring injury at the National Sports Institute (NSI).
Tenaga coach Lailin Abu Hassan said: “I don’t think he will recover in time for the knockout stage, starting next week.
“I also do not want to take the risk to field him as this may further aggravate the injury. We will miss his services.”
Lailin, who took charge of the team after K. Rajan’s appointment as coach of the National Juniors, added that with a weakened forwardline, the burden will be heavier in their bid to win the overall title again.
“It’s going to be a challenge for me as the new coach to help Tenaga retain the title,’’ he said.
Lailin said that he would have to bank on former international forwards, among them M. Kaliswaran, Mohd Fairuz Ramli, Mohd Fairuz Hamsani and Mahinder Singh, to deliver the goods.
“I am also worried with the team’s poor defence,” said Lailin.
“They have conceded 19 goals in 10 matches. The defenders have to cut down their mistakes and play a tighter game.’’
He added that defenders Baljit Singh Charun and Zaharin Zakariah would also have to tread with caution in the first match of the knockout stage, the quarter-finals.
“Both of them are on one yellow and one green card and if they receive another green card, they will be suspended for one match,” said Lailin.
The Malaysian Hockey Fede-ration (MHF) competition committee will decide on the dates of the knockout competition and make the draw today.
In Divison One of the MHL, Tenaga finished third behind champions Ernst and Young and Sapura.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
MHL : Selva blow as Tenaga set out to defend overall title
Tenaga Nasional will not have the services of national forward S. Selvaraju in their defence of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) overall title.
The Taiping-born player, who returned from a successful stint in the German League with Berliner to play his first match in the MHL Division One against Sapura three weeks ago, is undergoing rehabilitation for a left thigh hamstring injury at the National Sports Institute (NSI).
Tenaga coach Lailin Abu Hassan said: “I don’t think he will recover in time for the knockout stage, starting next week.
“I also do not want to take the risk to field him as this may further aggravate the injury. We will miss his services.”
Lailin, who took charge of the team after K. Rajan’s appointment as coach of the National Juniors, added that with a weakened forwardline, the burden will be heavier in their bid to win the overall title again.
“It’s going to be a challenge for me as the new coach to help Tenaga retain the title,’’ he said.
Lailin said that he would have to bank on former international forwards, among them M. Kaliswaran, Mohd Fairuz Ramli, Mohd Fairuz Hamsani and Mahinder Singh, to deliver the goods.
“I am also worried with the team’s poor defence,” said Lailin.
“They have conceded 19 goals in 10 matches. The defenders have to cut down their mistakes and play a tighter game.’’
He added that defenders Baljit Singh Charun and Zaharin Zakariah would also have to tread with caution in the first match of the knockout stage, the quarter-finals.
“Both of them are on one yellow and one green card and if they receive another green card, they will be suspended for one match,” said Lailin.
The Malaysian Hockey Fede-ration (MHF) competition committee will decide on the dates of the knockout competition and make the draw today.
In Divison One of the MHL, Tenaga finished third behind champions Ernst and Young and Sapura.
The Taiping-born player, who returned from a successful stint in the German League with Berliner to play his first match in the MHL Division One against Sapura three weeks ago, is undergoing rehabilitation for a left thigh hamstring injury at the National Sports Institute (NSI).
Tenaga coach Lailin Abu Hassan said: “I don’t think he will recover in time for the knockout stage, starting next week.
“I also do not want to take the risk to field him as this may further aggravate the injury. We will miss his services.”
Lailin, who took charge of the team after K. Rajan’s appointment as coach of the National Juniors, added that with a weakened forwardline, the burden will be heavier in their bid to win the overall title again.
“It’s going to be a challenge for me as the new coach to help Tenaga retain the title,’’ he said.
Lailin said that he would have to bank on former international forwards, among them M. Kaliswaran, Mohd Fairuz Ramli, Mohd Fairuz Hamsani and Mahinder Singh, to deliver the goods.
“I am also worried with the team’s poor defence,” said Lailin.
“They have conceded 19 goals in 10 matches. The defenders have to cut down their mistakes and play a tighter game.’’
He added that defenders Baljit Singh Charun and Zaharin Zakariah would also have to tread with caution in the first match of the knockout stage, the quarter-finals.
“Both of them are on one yellow and one green card and if they receive another green card, they will be suspended for one match,” said Lailin.
The Malaysian Hockey Fede-ration (MHF) competition committee will decide on the dates of the knockout competition and make the draw today.
In Divison One of the MHL, Tenaga finished third behind champions Ernst and Young and Sapura.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
RSS Feed (xml)
