Korean test for Thunderbolts

KUALA LUMPUR (7 December 2016): TNB Malaysia Hockey League (TNBMHL) 2016 Division 1 winners, TNB Thunderbolts will be sparring with the Korea U17 team in a 3 match series here in KL as preparation for the upcoming TNBMHL 2017 Premier division.

Comprising only the best players from the four schools under TNB’s Thunderbolts programme (BJSS, SSP-MSP, Anderson & SSTMI), the team overcame all odds to be crowned double champions last season winning both the Division 1 league and Presidents Cup titles.

After an impressive campaign last time out which also saw the team clinch promotion to the Premier Division, TNB Thunderbolts will look to start their pre-season preparation against a very commendable opponent in the form of the Koreans.

TNB Thunderbolts team manager, Wan Hairul Razli Ahmad Kusha’ari said “In addition to playing against local teams, we were looking at the opportunity to test ourselves against a foreign team when coincidentally the Koreans were also looking for test matches in Malaysia for their youth team”.
“We jumped at the opportunity as we believe that Thunderbolts can give the perfect exposure for the Koreans and at the same time hope to increase our team’s effectiveness and work on our weaknesses in preparation for next month’s TNBMHL”, added Wan Hairul.

For the short term, this 3 match series will serve as a perfect warm-up for the TNBMHL newcomers and also further push TNB’s long term goal for its Thunderbolts program which is to produce world-class hockey stars through the strategic hockey coaching and grooming programs.

The Thunderbolts program has been busy organizing Hockey clinics and tournaments in its effort to groom and develop our young hockey talents namely its Hockey Camp in conjunction with the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy in Kuantan and also the recently concluded inaugural Thunderbolts Cup held at Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI), Johor in October.

“We have scouted a few potential players that can strengthen the team during the Thunderbolts Cup and we will fully evaluate these talents by giving them equal opportunities throughout this friendly series against the Koreans”, explained Wan Hairul.

He also beliefs that TNB as a Government Linked Corporation (GLC) has indirectly and successfully played a positive role in promoting hockey development in the country through its slogan ‘Powering Champions’.

The first of 3 match series will be played on 8 December at 5.30pm followed by the second and third matches on 10 December and 12 December respectively. All the 3 matches will be played at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium, Jalan Pantai.
Fixtures:

TNB Thunderbolts vs Korea U17
8 December 2016 at 5.30pm (KLHA Stadium)
10 December 2016 at 8.00pm (KLHA Stadium)
12 December 2016 at 5.30pm (KLHA Stadium)