MALAYSIA TO SKIP ASIAN CHAMPIONS TROPHY?

 

Malaysia are likely to skip the Asian Champions Trophy due to the change of dates by the Asian Hockey Federation.

Initially the AHF had scheduled their Champions Trophy from 13-21 December but were forced to shift the dates after FIH had included India and Pakistan in the FIH Champions Trophy to be played in Melbourne.

This the Asian Champions Trophy that was to be played in Doha was moved to Dec 20-27, played over Christmas.

When asked about the possibility of Malaysia skipping the Asian Champions Trophy, newly appointed national coach Paul Revington did not discount the possibility but stopped short of confirming it.

"I believe the MHC will be discussing it at their Council meeting next week," said Revington when met after the World League match between Malaysia and Kazakhstan in Kuantan.

AHF Competitions Committee Secretary Mahadevan Devadass who was also in Kuantan said that they had communicated the new dates to their affiliates.

"So far only Korea has said that they will not be available whereas Pakistan and China have already confirmed their participation," said Mahadevan.

"To replace Korea, we have invited Bangladesh while Japan and India are expected to participate as well."

While Malaysia may have it's reasons why they want to skip the Asian Champions Trophy, they should not use Christmas as an excuse as they held the Sultan Johor Cup over Hari Raya Haji last year and will hold the same competition over Deepavali this year.

And the tournament surely can be used to expose fringe players as well as promising youngsters that Revington can judge for his future plans in the quest for World Cup Qualification.

KAZAKHSTAN HAMMERED INTO SUBMISSION

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Malaysia booked a spot in the second round of the World League by outclassing Kazakhstan 11-1 at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium.

With two teams moving into the next round, there was never a doubt that Malaysia would take one of the spots. And despite being apprehensive earlier on with regards to the strength of Kazakhstan, Malaysia showed their class in hammering them into submission, taking a 6-0 lead in the first half.

And the match against Sri Lanka tomorrow will be a sheer formality for Malaysia to complete the fixtures. What is remarkable is that Malaysia has

“Honestly I never expected this scoreline as Kazakhstan has an experienced side. Perhaps they were tired playing two matches on consecutive days. Still I will not take the credit away from my players who played a high tempo match, keeping the opponents backpedalling,” said Malaysian coach Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim.

“It is good to book our spot with a match to play but we will not take things for granted against Sri Lanka though I might give some fringe players a starting eleven chance.”

It took Malaysia only three minutes to be on the scoreboard through a penalty cornerr as skipper Nadia Abdul Rahman sent a delightful scoop over the keeper Natalya Gataulina to send the crowd into sheer delight.

That set the tone for the first half as Fazilla Slyvester Silin added the second, also a via a penalty corner in the 6^th minute.

Siti Rahmah Othman, who scored a hattrick against Singapore the previous day, made it 3-0 in the 15^th minute and the shoulders of the Kazakhstan players dropped, knowing that they were in for a hard night.

Nadia scored her second and Malaysia’s fourth in the next minute before goals from Fatin Naimah Zaki (18^th minute) and Siti Noor Amarina Ruhaini (22^nd minute) gave Malaysia a 6-0 halftime lead.

It took Malaysia only two minutes upon resumption to increase their tally, this time through Rabiatul Adawiyah.

With strong support from the terraces and Malaysian Hockey Confederation President Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah urging the team on, Malaysia kept on pressing and were rewarded with two more goals via Norazlin Sumantri (44^th minute) and Nur Hidayah Bokhari (49^th minute).

Kazakhstan reduced the deficit in the 59^th minute through Gulnara Imangaliyeva. But that was as far as they got as Malaysia added goals through Norazlin (64^th minute) and Raja Norsharina Raja Shahbuddin ( 65^th minute) for a 11-1 win.

SRI LANKA SHOCK SINGAPORE

Singapore fell to a shock 3-2 defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the World League First Round at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium.

It was their second consecutive defeat, having lost badly 11-0 at the hands of hosts Malaysia the previous night.

They will now have to defeat Kazakhstan in their final match on Sunday to have any hopes of taking one of the two berths into the second round available to teams participating in this tournament.

Malaysia take on Kazakhstan in a later match and a win will give them one of the two spots available while Kazakhstan need to avoid a heavy defeat in the event they lose to Singapore.

The hosts will play Sri Lanka, who also have an outside chance if they can hold or defeat Malaysia when they play on Sunday night.

Sri Lanka opened the scoring in the 4^th minute through Buddika Yapa Gunarathna and that jolted Singapore into action as they started dictating play.

And Singapore were duly rewarded when Nursabrina Banuh M. Gofar scored the equaliser in the 15^th minute.

Having held a grip of the match, Singapore took the lead three minutes before the halft-time with Nursabarina nothing her second, her shot on the right sailing past a sea of legs to deceive Sri Lanka custodian Erandi Keerthirathna.

 It took Sri Lanka only a minute upon resumption of play to draw level when Buddika managed to outwith the Singaporean defence and put the ball past Singapore keeper Cookie Tan Koon Khim.

Then in the 50^th minute came what was the tournament’s own goal as a shot by Sri Lanka’s Muthukuttige Prarthana from the left was left by Cookie but umpire Nur Hafizah Azman adjudged the ball was deflected by a Singaporean stick in the semi circle.

Nur Hafizah consulted fellow umpire Nirmala Dagar from India upon protests from the Singaporean players but the decision stood and Sri Lanka were ahead 3-2.

Try as they did, Singapore could not find the equaliser.

MALAYSIAN RUN RIOT

Hosts Malaysia got off to a resounding start when they defeated Singapore 11-0 in a World Hockey League match at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium.

It was an effortless win by the Malaysians who ran rings around a relatively young Singapore side that had eight players from the Junior Asia Cup squad promoted to senior ranks.

Singapore even fielded 14-year-old Neo Yu Shan in the starting eleven and she gave a good account of herself and this can only augur well for the islanders in the future.

Still it was obvious that Malaysia were going to win the match right from the first whistle and they did not stretch themselves, with a key match against Kazakhstan probably at the back of their minds.

Malaysia made good off the penalty corners awarded to them, scoring 8 goals from the 17 that they awarded.

“I could not have asked for a better start and the performance was outstanding. Our penalty corners worked and that attributed to half our tally today,” said Malaysian coach Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim.

“Now we have to prepare for Kazakhstan and from what I saw of them today, they are a strong physical side that play robust hockey, using their physical strength to the maximum.

“We need to be patient and make use of the chances that come our way as I expect them to try catch us on the counter where they can prove to be devastating.”

Malaysia opened scoring in the 5^th minute through Siti Rahmah Othman who slotted home after the ball deflected of a defenders stick and left her with the easiest task of slotting it past Singapore custodian Cookie Tan Koon Khim.

That boosted the confidence of the Malaysian girls who added a second through another penalty corner goal, this time A. Kannagi netting home at close range after the initial attempt by Siti Rahmah was well saved by Cookie who was hapless to prevent the goal in the 14^th minute.

It was all Malaysia after that as they pinned the Singaporean defence into their own half and scored at regular intervals with Nor Hidayah Ahmad Bokhari scoring a brace in the 15^th and 35^th minutes with Siti Rahmah finding the back of the net in the 24^th minute for a halftime score of 5-0.

Though Singapore offered initial resistance in the second half, they crumbled under the Malaysian onslaught as goals by Fazilla Slyvester Silin (47^th and 67^th minutes), Kannagi (53^rd minute), Siti Rahmah (58^th minute), Siti Noor Amarina Ruhaini (61^st minute) and Juliani Mohammad Din (69th minute) for the resounding win.

KAZAKHSTAN ROMP TO A 6-1 WIN

Kazakhstan opened their campaign in the World League First Round with a convining 6-1 win over Sri Lanka at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium.

Having led 3-0 within the opening eight minutes, Kazakhstan was foiled by the tenancity of the Sri Lanka players who defended stoutly despite being under pressure a large part of the match.

Though awarded 11 penalty corners in the match, Kazakhstan scored only four and this attributed in a way to their failure to notch up a much bigger win.

Kazakhstan went onto the offensive from the start and were duly rewarded when Vera Domashneva in the 4^th minute.

In the 6^th minute Kazakhstan was awarded their first penalty cormer. Instead of making a direct attempt, Gulnara Imangaliyeva relayed the ball to the far post for Vera to deflect into goal to give Kazakhstan a 2-0 lead.

Sri Lanka skipper Dinesha Pereira and Madhushani Battagodage created some openings and forced two penalty corners but they could not get a shot on target to trouble Olga Sheveleva in the Khazak goal.

Gulnara then scored via direct hits from two penalty corners, in the 8^th and 21st minutes to put Kazakhstan 4-0 ahead and Sri Lanka were reeling.

However Sri Lanka managed to reduce the deficit in the 23^rd minute through  Dinesha and tightened their defence.

Kazakhstan tried to break down the opponents defence with Olga Khonina and Gulnara coming close as the teams trooped off at halftime with Kazkhstan leading 4-1.

The exchanges were even in the opening minutes of the second half as Kazakhstan were foiled time and again by Aruni Jauyasinghe and Madhura Raththepitiya.

Kazakhstan managed to net their fifth goal in the 66^th minute through the efforts of Vera who completed her hattrick. Another penalty corner conversion by Natalya Sazontova in the 70^th minute ensured a big win for Khazakhstan who take on hosts Malaysia on Saturday.

SPAIN BOUND PLAYERS INTEND TO DELIVER

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Two Malaysian players intend to give a good account in the World League Round One in Kuantan before leaving to play in the Spanish League next month.

The duo – Siti Noor Amarina Ruhaini and Fazilla Slyvester Silin have been signed up to play for Castelldefels HC in the league that gets underway at the end of September.

And the duo, both who are 25 year old, are looking forward to enhancing their knowledge of the sport in their maiden overseas attachment with a foreign club.

But getting Malaysia through to the second round of the World League is their main priority.

“I am looking forward towards my stint in Spain as I hope to gain experience and help Malaysia do well internationally,” said Amarina who made her national team debut at the Asia Cup in New Delhi in 2004.

“I feel honoured to be selected to play for the club and will do my level best. But right now I need to concentrate on helping Malaysia win this leg of the World Series.”

Amarina, who hails from Penang is currently pursuing a degree in Physical Education at Universiti Putra Malaysia. She has 93 caps to her credit and lists the win over South Africa in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne as her best momment in hockey.

“I intend to carry on playing in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Incheon Asian Games at the very least,” added Amarina who credits her elder sister Siti Roshaida as the person who got her interested in hockey in the first place.

As for Fazilla who is a striker, scoring goals for Malaysia in the tournament is the task that she intends to accomplish to ensure a top finish for her team.

“Though I am expected to score goals, it is a team effort and the end result is what matters for me,” said Fazilla who hails from Mukah, Sarawak.

“Getting this opportunity to play in Spain is a dream come true for me. Besides gaining experience I intend to promote the country during my stint there.”

Fazilla made her debut in the 2007 SEA Games in Korat and it was in that tournament that she scored her first international goal.

Having played 62 internationals, Fazilla said that she will carry on playing as long as she can and hopes for a good outing in this tournament.

“It is not going to be easy as the other teams to are here with the same mission, to qualify for the next round,” said Fazilla who lists winning the Sukma gold medal for Sarawak in the 2006 Malaysia Games as her best hockey momment.

Initially two other players, Norazlin Sumantri and Raja Norsaharina Raja Shahbuddin were also earmarked to play in the Spanish League. But that did not materialise and Amarina and Fazilla are left to chart a new chapter for Malaysian women hockey in Spain.

WORLD LEAGUE PREVIEW

Though Malaysia are the favourites to go through to the second stage of the World League, they are not taking things for granted in the tournament that gets underway in Kuantan tomorrow (Friday).

Four teams – Singapore, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka and hosts Malaysia will battle it out over the next three days to a spot in the second round.

The league will see participation from around the globe and will be held over four rounds with the current qualification norms for the Olympics ceasing to exist and providing an opportunity for every FIH member country to compete for an Olympic berth.

“It may look easy but be rest assured that we are taking nothing for granted. Every match is akin to a final and each goal counts hence threre is no room for mistakes or complacency,” said Malaysian coach Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim.

“I will field my best team for every match and this is no place for exposure as a place in the second round is at stake. And the format, a one round league, does not allow us the luxury of a second bite of the cake.”

The Malaysian team had their first feel of the blue turf upon their arrival in Kuantan on Tuesday. And after the three training sessions, Nasihin feels that his players have already gotten used to the change of colour, both in terms of the pitch and ball.

“It was initially a strange feeling and it took the players some time to get used to it. But the pitch conditions are superb,” added Nasihin.

Malaysia will take on traditional rivals Singapore in the opening match and Nasihin feels that Singapore will not pose problems for his charges.

With sweeper Sebah Kari having retired from international duty, Nasihin said that changes will be made to their defence with skipper Nadia Abdul Rahman expected to play the sweepers role.

“Singapore have made several changes to the team and have included many young players from the Junior Asia Cup,” said Nasihin.

“Nadia will man the defence and at the same time play an attcking role, more like a libero, given a free hand to join the midfield and attack.

“It is Kazakhstan that worry me more as not much is known about them as the last time we saw them in action was in the 2010 Asian Games where we won 4-2. From looking at their players, they have retained many from the Asian Games side and are an experienced side.”

Sri Lanka will take on Kazakhstan in the opening match which will be played at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium.

Fixtures:

1600H: Kazakhstan v Sri Lanka

1800H: Malaysia v Singapore

(Matches at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium)