‘THE INVINCIBLES’ NO MORE
UniKL suffer losses in both the TNB Cup and the Vivian May Soars Cup finals
IT was a night of double tragedy for Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), who, otherwise, looked like ‘the Invincibles’ in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL). Following their wins in the men and women’s leagues, many expected UniKL to ease past their rivals in the TNB Cup and the Vivian May Soars Cup.
However, the men fell 2-0 to Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) in a penalty shootout after a 4-4 draw in Saturday’s TNB Cup final in Bukit Jalil.
While UniKL Ladies were edged 1-0 by Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UniTen) in the final of the Vivian May Soars Cup.
THT and UniTen showed that motivation and patience can turn things around in Cup competitions.
THT coach K. Rajan said: “We did not leave any details out, and even trained for a shootout scenario, and it saved the night.”
UniTen coach Lailin Abu Hassan said: “We planned for that one special penalty corner drill, and we hit the bullseye.”
The MHL, however, has many areas that need urgent attention.
Firstly, it was a challenge to organise the tournament amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) pulled it off without any Covid-19 related incidents as players and officials were in a sports bubble for about three weeks throughout the tournament.
Clubs also found it challenging to scout for quality local players as Covid-19 had made it impossible to sign foreign players.
UniKL and THT secured the best locals from the market while Tenaga Nasional used their employees.
TNB Thunderbolts picked students from three sports schools — Anderson, Temerloh and Tunku Mahkota Ismail, while Maybank relied on youth power who they had developed.
UiTM, Sabah and NurInsafi used the leftovers for the tournament.
In conclusion, the MHL lacks enough local talent to make it worldclass, something which the pandemic brought to the surface yet again.
The women's tournament had the same script, but still, MHC should be applauded for going ahead with the tournament.
The MHL, no doubt, served its purpose in keeping the best players competitive ahead of international assignments.
ROLL-OF-HONOUR — MHL: 1 UniKL, 2 THT, 3 Maybank;
TNB Cup: 1 THT, 2 UniKL, 3 Tenaga. Fairplay: Sabah; Player of the Tournament: Shahrun Nabil (THT); Top Scorer: Faizal Saari (THT — 16 goals); Best Goalkeeper:
Zaimi Mat Deris (Maybank); Most Promising Player: Shello Silverius (THT).
WMHL: 1 UniKL Ladies, 2 Police Blue Warriors, 3 PKS Uniten-KPT;
Vivian May Soars Cup: 1 PKS-UniTen-KPT, 2 UniKL Ladies, 3 Police Blue Warriors;
Fairplay: Mutiara Juniors; Player of the Tournament: Nur Aisyah Yaacob (PKSUniten-KPT); Top Scorer: Nuramirah Shakirah (UniKL Ladies – 10 goals); Best Goalkeeper: Siti Zalia Nasir (UniKL Ladies); Most Promising Player: Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli (UniKL Ladies).