City girls on a winning streak

Kuala Lumpur (Tuesday, 21 March, 2017): Kuala Lumpur girls’ hockey team is riding high in the ongoing 1Mas-MSN-KPM-Milo National Under-16 Hockey Tournament.

The city girls completed their Group C preliminary round fixtures with a 2-0 victory over Johor today at the KLHA Stadium and topped the table standings with nine points to advance into Wednesday’s Round 2 of the competition.

Team captain Hasya Syahida Saifuddin netted a double via penalty corner and field goals. The 2016 National Under-14 Championship top scorer (10 goals) shares the leading scorer board with Siti Nur Arfah Mohd Nor from Penang as both players have scored seven goals each so far.

Coached by A. Kannagi, Kuala Lumpur had earlier crushed Perak 8-0 and edged Malacca 2-0 respectively.
In Group B, Penang upped the ante in search of a spot in the next round by thrashing Terengganu 11-0 today and goes into showdown against Negeri Sembilan in the top-of-the-table clash tomorrow.

The Negeri Sembilan girls lead the chart with six points but are through to the second stage of the event while Penang (4 points) and third-placed Pahang (1 point) battle for the remaining spot. Pahang, however, will need to win by more than 12 goals against canon-fodder Terengganu tomorrow to leapfrog Penang.

In the boys’ competition, defending champions Terengganu outclassed Penang 2-0 and Negeri Sembilan defeated Kedah 4-0 in Group A matches. Terengganu lead the table with nine points following three wins and loss. They suffered a shocking 0-2 defeat against Johor.

Selangor also qualified for the second round by whipping Perak 3-0 at the Ministry of Education Hockey Stadium, leaving the race for the remaining spot from the group a tussle between Perak (6 points) and Malacca (6 points). Selangor lead the standings with seven points from four matches.

The top two teams at the end of the preliminary round in the boys and girls categories will advance to Round 2 where the teams are divided into two groups of three teams each. The top ranked teams will move into the March 26 final.

The nine-day event from March 18-26 features 14 states participating in the boys division and 13 states, except for Perlis, competing in the girl’s category.

RESULTS:
Boys Group A: Negeri Sembilan 4 Kedah 0; Terengganu 2 Penang 0
Group B: Perak 0 Selangor 3; Perlis 3 Sarawak 0

Girls Group A: Kelantan 4 Sarawak 1; Sabah 4 Selangor 0
Group B: Negeri Sembilan 2 Pahang 1; Penang 11 Terengganu 1
Group C: Johor 0 Kuala Lumpur 2; Perak 2 Malacca 3

Fixtures – 22 March (Wednesday):
Boys A: Johor v Kedah (KPM, 5pm); Penang v Negeri Sembilan (KLHC, 5pm); Group B: Malacca v Sarawak (KPM, 3pm); Perak v Perlis (3pm)

Girls Group A: Kedah v Sarawak (KPM, 7.30am); Sabah v Kelantan (KLHA, 7.30am); Group B: Penang v Negeri Sembilan (KPM, 9.15am); Terengganu v Pahang (KLHA, 9.15am).