Kuala Lumpur (11 January, 2017): Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) and Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) will continue their rivalry in the Charity Shield match – curtain raiser for the TNBMHL 2016 season at the Batu Buruk Hockey Stadium in Kuala Terengganu on Friday.
For KLHC, the 7-2 drubbing inflicted upon them by three-time double champions THT in the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup knockout tournamet last week has not only been a ‘shocking episode’ but one that the east coast team has vowed to erase on record.
“It was a quite an embarrassing defeat…the score line was big and took us by surprise. We will travel to Terengganu for the Charity Shield and look towards turning things around. The morale in the team has not been affected by this defeat but we will fight back,” said KLHC assistant manager Harfizi Baharom at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.
He added that except for Rashid Baharon, who is nursing an ankle injury suffered in the Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup, the others are raring to compete.
KLHC have won the Charity Shied in the last three consecutive years, the last being in the 2-1 win at the Batu Buruk Stadium last year.
However, it is the hunger for the Premier League and TNB Cup that has eluded them since 2014 which is top in their mission.
Jiwa Mohan, one of the key players in THT, however, acknowledged that the Charity Shield encounter between both teams is expected to go to the wire and is anybody’s game.
“Any match between THT and KLHC is always hard to predict. We won 7-2in the knockout tournament but KLHC will be back at its best on Friday. That we are confident and will certainly play to our level best,” said Jiwa.
Whilst the main attraction is in Kuala Terengganu, the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Association Stadium in Jalan Pantai will host to Tenaga Nasional Berhad-TNB Thunderbolts and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL)-Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School matches.
The Men’s Division One League will begin on January 19 with the participation of Nurinsafi Hockey, Johor, RMAF Rajawali, Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ), Politeknik Malaysia-KPT, Universiti Putra Malaysia-KPT, Royal Malaysian Police and Bukit Jalil Sports School.
