UNIKL SET FOR HISTORIC SWEEP
Chance to grab men’s and women’s Malaysia Hockey League titles
UNIVERSITI Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) get the chance of a lifetime to sweep all titles at stake in the men’s and women’s Malaysia Hockey League today.
UniKL men, who have won the Charity Shield and League titles, will play Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) for the TNB Cup.
UniKL Ladies, who have won the League, will play Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UniTen-PKS) for the Vivian May Soars Cup.
But both the UniKL teams will not only be facing experienced and determined opponents, they will also have to contend with wily coaches K. Rajan and Lailin Abu Hassan.
Rajan holds the rare distinction of having won MHL titles, both as player and coach as well.
The former National Juniors coach won the MHL Overall title in 1987 as a player with Tenaga Nasional before becoming the club’s coach four years later.
As a coach, he powered the utility giant to their first MHL double in the 1991-92 season and went on to win a string of League and Overall titles for his employer before quitting in 2018 and becoming the National Juniors coach.
UniKL know that they are up against a master tactician with a powerful striker and penalty corner flicker Faizal Saari to deal with.
Faizal is the League’s top scorer with 14 goals, and could be the tie-breaker in the final as well.
For UniKL, their ace is national No 1 penalty corner flicker Razie
Rahim who has delivered eight goals so far.
As for Lailin, the Olympian has a knack for bringing out the best in his ladies, and he proved it by turning the tide against favourites HockAdemy to snatch the Vivian May Soars Cup from their grip last year.
And this season, he pulled off a great escape against Police Blue Warriors by capitalising on the away goals rule.
Playing away, UniTen were 3-1 down in the semi-final first leg, but a strong rally saw them equalise at 3-3.
In the return leg, the match ended 1-1, and UniTen advanced to the final on three away goals advantage.
Lailin and his angels may have lost 3-0 to UniKL in the League, but the final might just be the other way round.
Today is the third straight season that sees UniKL and THT squaring off for the TNB Cup.
In 2019, THT lifted the Cup while UniKL prevailed last year. This time, it is too close to call. TODAY
TNB Cup final: Universiti Kuala Lumpur v Terengganu Hockey Team (8.30pm, Pitch 1)
Third-fourth: Maybank v Tenaga Nasional (8.30pm, Pitch II)
Vivian May Soars Cup final: Universiti Kuala Lumpur Ladies v Universiti Tenaga Nasional (6.30pm, Pitch I).
Third-fourth: Police Blue Warriors v Sabah (6.30pm, Pitch II).