Stickler for success
League winners Terengganu target TNB Cup next
KUALA LUMPUR: Winning the Premier Division title has whetted Terengganu’s appetite for more.
And they have set their sights on winning the TNB Cup for the fifth consecutive time.
Terengganu’s new mission begins today when they take on fourthplaced Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) in the semi-final first leg at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
The return leg will be played on
Feb 7 at the same venue.
The East Coast team edged star-studded Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) 2-1 on Friday to win the Premier Division title.
En route to the title, they stayed unbeaten in 10 matches with seven wins and three draws.
National forward Faizal Saari, who was the team’s star in the league victory, said his teammates were all fired up to tear UniKL apart.
Terengganu drew twice – 2-2 and 1-1 – with UniKL in the Premier
Division home and away matches.
“It feels nice to be the only team to stay unbeaten in the Premier Division. But we cannot be over confident in the TNB Cup,” said Faizal.
“It’s a different ball game. Others will be coming after our scalps for sure.
“We have to take our chances well and score early to put pressure on them,” said Faizal, who has scored a total of eight goals – four each via field goals and penalty corners.
Besides Faizal, Terengganu will
once again expect penalty corner expert Gonzalo Peillat of Argentina tograb his share of the goals.
Despite being the underdogs, UniKL coach A. Arulselvaraj said they would not back down easily.
“We created lots of scoring chances in our previous matches against Terengganu. We need to finish off our chances better in the semis,” said Arul.
UniKL have yet to win a trophy since making their debut in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) since 2011.