Malacca, Police book semi-final spots

KUALA LUMPUR (23rd May, 2016): Defending champions Malacca marched into the semi-finals of the 2016 TNB Tun Abdul Razak Cup after cruising to a 5-1 win over Johor in their Division One Group A match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Monday.

In the other group match played, Police edged Pahang 4-3 to join Malacca in the semi-finals.

Muhammad Asyraf Zuhry Mahat opened the scoring for Azrul Effendy Bistamam’s side through a field goal in the 15th minute while Amirrullah Zainol made it 2-0 seven minutes later, also through a field goal.

Johor came out looking stronger in the second half and pulled one back through a field goal from Mohamad Syafiq Mohamed Zain in the 44th minute.

Amirrullah then scored his second from a penalty stroke two minutes later to make it 3-1 before Mohd Zhairul Ameen Md Zahid (56th) and Mohd Nor Aqmal Abdul Gaffar (60th) wrapped up the scoring for the champions.

Malacca lead Group A after two matches with six points followed by Police, also on six points, while Pahang and Johor have yet to register a point.

In Division Two, Sabah beat neighbours Sarawak 3-1 at Pitch 1 to stay top of the Group B while Armed Forces beat Kelantan 5-2.

The results see Sabah stay top of the group on six points from two matches while Kelantan and Armed Forces are second and third respectively with three points each. Sarawak are fourth after two losses.

Patrick Ningkan Joseph put Sarawak ahead in the 19th minute but it was all Sabah after that.

Captain Maxhans Christi pulled Sabah level in the 23rd minute from a penalty corner while Muhajir Abdu Rauf made it 2-1 in the 29th minute. Maxhans then bagged his second of the night in the 50th minute to make it 3-1.

Sabah coach Hasrul Jidih was glad that both sides kept their cool and stayed focus on the match.

“Some of the boys from the Sarawak squad are also from the Sabah Sports School, so there is healthy rivalry there.

“They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses as well because they train together. So I told my boys to go on the offensive today and hit them on the counter attack and my team did just that,” added Hasrul, who admitted his players did not play as well as they did against Armed Forces on the opening day.

In women’s Group A matches played, Pahang downed Police 3-1 and Selangor edged Johor 2-1 while in Group B Armed Forces saw-off Kuala Lumpur 3-2 as Terengganu and Sabah drew 1-1.

In Group C, Perak emerged 3-1 winners over Kedah while Malacca beat Penang 1-0.

The results see Selangor go top of Group A on seven points from three matches while Pahang and Johor have four points each from two and three matches respectively. Sarawak has one point while Police have zero after two matches.

Group B sees Armed Forces leading with six points from two matches, Terengganu and Sabah are on four from three matches while Kuala Lumpur has three from two matches and Negeri Sembilan zero.

Malacca leads Group C with six points from two matches while Penang and Perak have three points each from the same number of games. Kedah are bottom with no points.

Results – May 23rd (MONDAY)
Men’s Division One – Group A: Pahang 3 Police 4; Johor 1 Malacca 5; Division 2 – Group B: Sarawak 1 Sabah 3; Kelantan 2 Armed Forces 5;
Women’s Group A: Police 1 Pahang 3; Johor 1 Selangor 2; Group B: Armed Forces 3 Kuala Lumpur 2; Terengganu 1 Sabah 1; Group C: Perak 3 Kedah 1; Penang 0 Malacca 1.

Fixtures – May 24th (TUESDAY)
Men’s Division 1 – Group B: Negeri Sembilan v Terengganu (8pm, Pitch 1); Kuala Lumpur v Perak (8pm, Pitch 2); Division 2 – Group A: Selangor v Penang (6pm, Pitch 1); Kedah v Perlis (6pm, Pitch 2); Group B: Kelantan v Sabah (4pm, Pitch 1); Sarawak v Armed Forces (4pm, Pitch 2);
Women’s Group A: Selangor v Police (9.30am, Pitch 1); Sarawak v Pahang (9.30am, Pitch 2); Group B: Sabah v Armed Forces (7.30am, Pitch 1); Negeri Sembilan v Kuala Lumpur (7.30am, Pitch 2); All Matches at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.