HASHIM QUITS

The Malaysian Hockey Confederation has parted ways with one of its most knowledgable and hardworking staff, Hashim Mohd Yusof.

Hashim tendered his resignation on May 31, during the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and it was accepted by MHC.

MHC Hon Secretary Mohd Johari Abdul Aziz confirmed with this blog that Hashim had indeed submitted his resignation and that it had been accepted.

" Yes he has given a months notice and we have accepted his resignation," said Johari when posted with that question in Ipoh two days ago.

" We wish him well in his future undertakings."

Many reasons have surfaced with regards to the resignation and it is learnt that the main issue was due to a senior MHC official abusing Hashim during an event in a leading hotel in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago.

And with two MHC officials having a proxy war, Hashim became the target person when anything went wrong in MHC ever since the departure of former Secretary General Maninderjit Singh.

Hashim has been with MHC ( formerly MHF) since 1997 and was the Hon. Secretary from 2006 till 2010. He served under two Presidents Tan Sri Anwar and Tengku Abdullah.

It has been well known that Hashim handled all matters with regards to competitions in MHC and was also at the forefront in the organization of the FIH Congress scheduled for October this year.

The battle for control within MHC had already claimed one victim when Maninderjit quit and Hashim's departure, if left unchecked, could lead to a huge vacuum with MHC.

And it is also learnt that Prof Shamala, the Senior Vice President has been implicated in this exit of a hard working staff as the other Senior VP and Secretary have said that she will be able to source for capable replacements from UPM, a claim she has since denied.

So the charade and battle lines in MHC have claimed another victim.

CAREFUL ABOUT EUROPE ATTACHMENTS

Malaysia needs to thread carefully in their quest to send players for attachment or exposure programs in Europe.

The advice comes from none other then Ric Charlesworth who felt that sending youngsters to long overseas stints could be counter productive to Malaysia.

Charlesworth also added that expectations are always too high on hockey and thus failure is non acceptable.

Watch the video which is Part 1 of an exclusive interview with Charlesworth on the sidelines of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

EXPOSE YOUR YOUTH EARLY- NOBBS

Malaysia needs to start investing in its youth players faster and consistenly should they want to make inroads to challenge teams in international hockey.

Offering his advice, Indian coach Michael Noobs said that despite the fact they had good players, the Malaysians were underachievers in international hockey as they tend to hold on to older players longer then necessary and that they fail to have a gradual transition, opting for sweeping changes, thus their under achieving tag.

Watch the video above for the Nobbs interview.

ATM, MALACCA TAKE RAJA ASHMAN TROPHIES

Armed Forces emerged champions of the National Indoor Tournament when they defeated Kuala Lumpur 3-1 on penalty strokes after being tied 4-4 at the end of regulation time at the Indera Mulia Stadium in Ipoh.

It was the first major title for Armed Forces since their Razak Cup triumph in 1982.

And in the women’s final, Malacca showed their class in romping to a 4-0 win over PDRM.

Malacca won the bronze in the men’s category while Penang were third in the womens category.

Both teams were presented with the Raja Dato Seri Ashman Trophies by FIH President Leandro Negre and HRH Sultan Azlan Shah.

Former international Chua Boon Huat was the unfortunate player to have missed the crucial stroke in the penalty stroke shoot out when his attempt bounced off the upright. Muhd Nurhafiz Jamil Azomi stepped up to put the ball past Mohd Fitri Jasni to give Armed Forces the title.

Armed Forces took the lead in the 2^nd minute via Mohd Syafiq Yaacob. But the city side were on level terms in the 5^th minute through Kevinder Singh. But Armed Forces went ahead again through Mohd Hanip Che Halim but Kevinder was on target seconds later to make it 2-2.

Chua made it 3-2 for KL in the 13^th minute only for Syafiq to score two minutes later. A goal by Chua gave KL a 4-3 halftime lead. But Armed Forces never gave up and netted the equaliser 70 seconds from time off a penaltry stroke converted by Mohd Nurhafiz.

In the women’s final Malacca took the lead in the 11^th minute through Nor Aisyah Yaacob. And in the 26^th minute they were 2-0 up via Ayu Malina Zainuddin.

Awaratul Aisyah Yaacob made it 3-0 in the 30^th minute before Nur Aisyah scored the fourth in the 40^th minute, taking her tally in the tournament to 30 goals which ensures she finished as top scorer.

Roll of Honour

Men

Champion: Armed Forces

Runner Up: Kuala Lumpur

Third: Malacca

Most Promising Player: Muhammad Najmi Farizal Jazlan (Perlis)

Man of the Match (Final): Chua Boon Huat (Kuala Lumpur)

Best Goalkeeper: Mohd Khairul Affendi Kamarulzaman (Armed Forces)

Top Goal Scorer: Mohd Anuar (Malacca)

Fairplay: Pahang

Women

Champion: Malacca

Runner Up: PDRM

Third: Penang

Most Promising Player: Nurizwana Ahmad Tajuddin (Penang)

Man of the Match (Final): Ayu Malina Zainuddin (Malacca)

Best Goalkeeper: Nur Afiqah Omar (Malacca)

Top Goal Scorer: Ayu Malina Tajuddin (Malacca)

Fairplay: Johor

MALAYSIA TO HOST 2013 ASIA CUP

Malaysia is set to play host for the 2013 Asia Cup that offers a berth to the 2014 World Cup.

The decision to award the host job to Malaysia was taken at the Asian Hockey Federation Council meeting chaired by HRH Sultan Azlan Shah at Ipoh this morning.

Initially the hosting job was awarded to Singapore but it was changed at the meeting today.

“We have decided to award the host job to Malaysia and I am happy to announce that it will be held in Ipoh next year,” said AHF President Sultan Azlan Shah.

“The dates have yet to be determind as we will also have to take into consideration the annual Azlan Shah Cup.”

Malaysia last played in the World Cup in 2002 when they hosted the event. Prior to that Malaysia qualified for the 1998 Utrecht World Cup after a hiatus of 16 years with their previous appearance being in 1982 in Bombay.

Sultan Azlan was met after officiating the cerificate presentation ceremony for the Technical Officials course conducted jointly by the AHF-MHC.

At the ceremony it was also announced that the AHF-MHC Academy will now be known as the Raja Dato’ Seri Ashaman Academy, in honour of the second son of Sultan Azlan Shah who passed away on March 30 this year.

Sultan Azlan Shah also commented on the performance of the Malaysian team at the tournament.

“I am not happy with the performance as we concede easy goals, especially in the match against New Zealand,” said Sultan Azlan.

“We need to work on our defence as it leaks easily. But I must say I am pleased with the performance of the young players in the team as they have put up a decent performance.

“ This should form the team of the future for Malaysia and we have to give them the necessary exposure.”

POOR SPORTSMANSHIP

The video clip shows the actions of an Indian player after scoring the winning goal in the 2-1 win over Pakistan at the Sultan azlan Shah Cup 2012 at Ipoh, Malaysia. It was conduct unbecoming of the player and the action was caught on video, shown live in Pakistan and India.

INDOOR RESULTS

Below are the results of the Nationl Indoor Championships for the Piala Raja Dato Seri Ashman Shah. These are results as of 2.00pm.