Big turnout for HAS hockey tournament

The response to this competition has been tremendous. We could not be more pleased with the turnout, — Kangot Awan, HAS secretary

KUCHING: It is a busy time for the Hockey Association of Sarawak (HAS) with 78 teams in the fray for their weekend tournament.

The six-a-side and seven-aside tourney started on Friday and is scheduled to end Sunday afternoon.

The sixes are for the boys while the sevens are for the girls.

In the addition to the Open category, there are the U12, U15 and U17 draws for boys and girls.

Teams from as far away as Sibu and Bintulu are taking part.

“The response to this competition has been tremendous. We could not be more pleased with the turnout,” said HAS secretary Kangot Awan.

The competition schedule saw the U12 taking to the Sarawak Hockey Stadium pitch first on Friday.

The U15 and U17 will play Saturday with the Open scheduled for Sunday.

In the U15, 11 boys teams are in the hunt with seven teams in the girls draw. Seven boys teams and six girls teams are registered for the U17 draws.

In the blue ribbon Open section, a huge 24 men’s squads from various clubs are in the fray.

Two of the more notable clubs are Kuching HC and Flystick HC.

Belia Git HC stands out from the rest of the pack as they are led by Myanmar SEA Games gold medallist Dangerous Lee Matthews.

The women’s draw will see six sides from five clubs with Kuching HC fielding two teams.

In the boys U12, SK Bukit Balai topped Group B to advance to the quarters where they beat PP Debak.

In the semis, they beat Serian UD who had won over Pazona Jrs in the quarters.

The other finalists were SEDC Sibu who had topped Group C and then beat Git’s SK St Gile in the quarters.

They made the final after overcoming SK Abdul Kadir in the semis.

Bukit Balai won the final after scoring an early field goal with a pretty drag flick effort.

Serian UD took third place after beating SK Abdul Kadir.

In the girls U12, SK Mangut topped Group A with St Mary taking Group B.

The semis saw Mangut beating Serian Girls but St Mary was stopped by Serian Tigress.

The Tigress won the final 1-0 after a penalty shootout.