KUANTAN turned out to be a bruising experience for the Malaysia Hockey League's Premier Division teams and coaches over the weekend.
For starters, the stands in the Kuantan Stadium were empty except for players and match officials. The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) is taking Premier Division to the states for the second season, but only Penang has seen a good fan turn-out. Ipoh and Kuantan only attracted a handful of diehard fans. And the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru, slated to play host in mid-February, received a blow when thieves carted away the stadium lights' fuse boxes. The matches will now be held at the Tun Razak Stadium instead.
The weekend also saw Tenaga Nasional crash and to confound matters, their goalkeeper S. Kumar fractured his ribs when he took a powerful reverse stick shot from Sapura's Izzat Rahim on his chest. Tenaga not only lost the match 2-0 to slide down the standings but have now also lost their goalkeeper for several weeks.
"It was an unfortunate incident. The ball hit Kumar where he was not protected by his gear. He will be out for at least three weeks, and now we have to rely on our second goalkeeper (Fairus Wanazir)," said Tenaga coach Nor Saiful Zaini.
But Kumar, the country's No 1 goalkeeper, is made of sturdier stuff and cannot wait to get back into action.
"I tried to avoid the ball as it came directly to just below my neck where I have no protection, but it hit me square causing a hair-line fracture to one of my ribs," said Kumar, who was named Best Goalkeeper in Asia by the Asian Hockey Federation two weeks ago.
There was also a parting of ways over the weekend when Armed Forces-Airod bade farewell to coach K. Rajan after their match against Yayasan Negri Sembilan on Saturday.
"The Forces management felt that the team had under-performed after eight matches, and told me that they no longer needed my services," said Rajan, who coached the 2009 Junior World Cup team to 12th among 20 nations.
Meanwhile, Armed Forces Juniors extended their lead to seven points when they hammered Universiti Sains Malaysia 5-1 in Division One of the Malaysia Hockey League yesterday.
RESULTS -- DIVISION ONE: Ipoh City Council 2 Bukit Jalil Sports School 1, Bandar Penawar Sports School v Malacca CC (rained off), Armed Forces Juniors 5 Universiti Sains Malaysia 1.
For starters, the stands in the Kuantan Stadium were empty except for players and match officials. The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) is taking Premier Division to the states for the second season, but only Penang has seen a good fan turn-out. Ipoh and Kuantan only attracted a handful of diehard fans. And the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru, slated to play host in mid-February, received a blow when thieves carted away the stadium lights' fuse boxes. The matches will now be held at the Tun Razak Stadium instead.
The weekend also saw Tenaga Nasional crash and to confound matters, their goalkeeper S. Kumar fractured his ribs when he took a powerful reverse stick shot from Sapura's Izzat Rahim on his chest. Tenaga not only lost the match 2-0 to slide down the standings but have now also lost their goalkeeper for several weeks.
"It was an unfortunate incident. The ball hit Kumar where he was not protected by his gear. He will be out for at least three weeks, and now we have to rely on our second goalkeeper (Fairus Wanazir)," said Tenaga coach Nor Saiful Zaini.
But Kumar, the country's No 1 goalkeeper, is made of sturdier stuff and cannot wait to get back into action.
"I tried to avoid the ball as it came directly to just below my neck where I have no protection, but it hit me square causing a hair-line fracture to one of my ribs," said Kumar, who was named Best Goalkeeper in Asia by the Asian Hockey Federation two weeks ago.
There was also a parting of ways over the weekend when Armed Forces-Airod bade farewell to coach K. Rajan after their match against Yayasan Negri Sembilan on Saturday.
"The Forces management felt that the team had under-performed after eight matches, and told me that they no longer needed my services," said Rajan, who coached the 2009 Junior World Cup team to 12th among 20 nations.
Meanwhile, Armed Forces Juniors extended their lead to seven points when they hammered Universiti Sains Malaysia 5-1 in Division One of the Malaysia Hockey League yesterday.
RESULTS -- DIVISION ONE: Ipoh City Council 2 Bukit Jalil Sports School 1, Bandar Penawar Sports School v Malacca CC (rained off), Armed Forces Juniors 5 Universiti Sains Malaysia 1.
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