Perak grab their 10th Razak Cup title

Perak defeated Terengganu 4-2 to win their 10th Razak Cup title at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday. Haziq Samsul was the toast for Perak with a hat-trick in the 30th, 32nd and 46th minutes while Azrai Azad netted the other goal in the 17th minute. Faizal Saari responded for Terengganu with a brace in the first and 56th minutes. In the women’s final, Pahang edged Selangor 2-1 to regain their title last won in 2016. National player Nuraini Abdul Rashid netted a brace for the champions through…

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With all due respect

The national hockey team lacked one major thing that is needed to restore their pride and dignity… and that is respect. That is the damning revelation by former national players Mirnawan Nawawi and Nasihin Nubli during a 1½-hour live chat with fans via the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) Facebook page on Saturday. The duo believed the current crop of players are talented and hardworking but added that these two criteria are not enough for the team to progress to a higher level. Nasihin, who is part of the national team…

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India's legendary Olympic hockey hero Singh dies at 95

Balbir Singh, who won three Olympic hockey golds for India and became one his country’s biggest sporting heroes, has died at the age of 95, his family said Monday. Singh was in teams that won the Olympic title in London in 1948 and Helsinki in 1952 and led the side that won in Melbourne in 1956. His five goals in the 6-1 defeat of the Netherlands in 1952 remain a record for an Olympic final. India beat the former colonial power Great Britain 4-0 in the 1948 final which came…

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National hockey trainees itching for freedom

FREEDOM. That is what the national hockey trainees are hoping for soon. They are eager to start training outdoors after more than six weeks at home. Unfortunately, field hockey will not get its immediate freedom from the government under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). However, the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC), headed by Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal, are hoping to hand their players the freedom to train again. The national body have come up with a proposal, titled ‘Project Hockey Restart’, which outlines a host of temporary changes to training…

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No more working from car’s boot for Sabah Hockey Association

FROM a home office and files kept in a car boot for years, Sabah Hockey Association (SHA) now have their own place to meet and plan bigger things for their players. They started “dreaming bigger” after their youth teams returned with medals from the 2018 Malaysia Games. The boys’ team won the gold for the first time after beating Pahang while the girls’ team took silver after finishing second to Selangor in the final. Sabah-born Shello Silverius even captained the national junior team at last year’s Sultan of Johor Cup.…

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Syed not on the sidelines as he sticks to busy schedule

National hockey player Syed Syafiq Syed Mohd Cholan is keeping himself busy at home with his family during the movement control order (MCO). He is juggling hockey, studies and cooking – but doing a fine job handling all three. With his hockey stick, the fullback dribbles around his house compound in Ulu Kinta, Ipoh, with his siblings. Then, he helps his mother in the kitchen before burying himself in books as he tries to finish his dissertation. “I’m trying to revise and complete my thesis. I’m in my final year,…

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Coach Nasihin now the new keeper finder

Replacing a talismanic figure like S. Kumar is no easy task, but national assistant coach Nasihin Nubli, who also acts as the team’s goalkeeper coach, believes that it is time for the other goalkeepers to show up. On Tuesday, national coach Roelant Oltmans announced a 34-men squad for a centralised training camp to prepare for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and he selected four goalkeepers, who will be assessed over the next three weeks. The selected goalkeepers are Tenaga Nasional’s Mohd Hairi Abd Rahman, Universiti Kuala Lumpur’s (UniKL) Adrian Andy…

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Eleven fresh faces as hockey looks to the future

National hockey team coach Roelant Oltmans has opted for 11 fresh faces as he embarks on a rebuilding process to elevate the Speedy Tigers to a higher level. The Dutch coach has also omitted five seasoned players including skipper Sukri Mutalib, the Saari brothers Faizal and Fitri, Nabil Fikri Mohd Noor and Joel van Huizen from his 34-player squad for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh from April 11-18. The new-look team will start their centralised training camp on March 2 and will be evaluated for three weeks before…

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Bali holiday reward for HockAdemy women

THE HockAdemy women’s team will soon head to Bali for a well deserved vacation. Following their success in winning the Malaysia Women’s Hockey League ti tle and the silver in the Vivian May Soars Cup in their debut, HockAdemy club president Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman announced the Bali holiday reward yesterday. “I had promised them a vacation to Bali if the women’s team fulfill their mission of a top-two finish in the league and a medal in the Vivian May Soars Cup. “They made our club proud with their…

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World-class keeper leaves national outfit after 21 years

After 21 years in the national hockey team, S. Kumar (pic), considered one of the finest goalkeepers in the world, has finally called it a day. Although he has quit playing for the national team, the 40-year-old from Negri Sembilan will still be in hockey. The goalkeeper, who has represented Malaysia 321 times, has been hired by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) as the national junior team’s goalkeeper’s coach. He will also continue playing for Tenaga Nasional. The juniors will feature in the Junior Asia Cup in Dhaka, Bangladesh from…

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