MHF question fixture debate at halfway stage

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) will not change the fixtures for the knockout stage of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) despite complaints over the tight schedule.

MHF secretary Hashim Mohamed Yusof said yesterday that ample time had been given to the teams to study the fixtures prior to the start of the MHL on Dec 4.

Dangerman: Jiwa Mohan (left) is among several experienced hands powering Sapura in the MHL Premier Division.

“I do not see why they have left it until now to complain about the fixtures.

“We also had three meetings with the teams and there was no issue over the fixtures.

“We are not going to make any changes as the fixtures are already drawn up and we are at the halfway stage of the MHL,” said Hashim.

Teams will play each other twice but what irked the Premier Division teams is that they have to play on consecutive days without a one-day break as was the practice in the past.

The Premier Division teams involved in the knockout stage are Maybank, KL Hockey Club, Sapura, Tenaga Nasional, Nur Insafi and Universiti Kuala Lumpur. The Division One teams in the fray are UiTM and Armed Forces-Airod.

The MHF have set Jan 29 and 30 for the quarter-finals and Feb 5 and 6 for the semi-finals. The final is slated for Feb 12.

After the festive break, the MHL will resume on Jan 2 in Penang.

Comments

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...

Malaysian Sports - Today's back pages!

Search This Blog