Jong-hyun makes amends by netting a hattrick against Thunderbolts

Terengganu’s Jang Jong-hyun has turned his anger into motivation to enjoy a goals galore in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).

Jong-hyun scored a hattrick as Terengganu pulled off a sensational 5-0 win over TNB Thunderbolts at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

On Friday, he was mad at himself after firing blanks in the match against Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) and his team eventually lost 2-3.

But yesterday, Jong-hyun, known for his drag flicking prowess, was on fire as he scored all three goals through penalty corners in the eighth, 13th and 24th minutes.

The other goals were scored by Faizal Saari (40th) and Mohd Abid Sufian Mat Ruslee (60th).

Jong-hyun was happy to finally come good for his team.

“It was really stressful when I did not get a goal against UniKL. Today, I scored three times, I’m happy, ” said Jong-hyun, who is hellbent on winning the top scorer’s award for the second year in a row.

Last season, he scored 22 goals and did not mince his words when asked about his aim for 2020.

“In every match, my aim is to help my team win through scoring goals. I may be a centreback, but I know what my penalty corners can do.

“I aim to be the top scorer and I hope to get more penalty corner opportunities to make that happen, ” he said.

His highest-scoring season was in 2017 when he scored a whopping 28 goals.

When asked what was the secret behind the success rate of his penalty corners, Jang said: “I would imagine different situations during training and get my teammates involved too. From there, I will plan my flicks, whether to hit low or high, bottom corner or top corner.”

“Also, you need strong mental strength to get these flicks right. Focus is needed if you want to be the best in any kind of situations.”

Having worked under three different coaches – Sarjit Singh, I. Vickneswaran and K. Dharmaraj – since he joined Terengganu in 2016, Jang said he does not want to compare their coaching styles because his duty is to execute their plans.

“I do not like to compare because my job is to play and execute their plans. I play to entertain the fans and score the goals.”

“All three are popular coaches in Malaysia, so it’s hard to compare.”

Meanwhile, Dharmaraj said they could have scored more.

“Jang is an ace drag-flicker. We can see his quality in training. He could have scored more if we had created more penalty corner opportunities, ” said Dharmaraj.

In the other matches, Maybank beat UiTM 4-1 to record their first win in the league in the second pitch of the National Hockey Stadium, while Tenaga Nasional showed no mercy as they thrashed Nur Insafi 6-1 at the Sungai Petani Hockey Stadium.

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