High-scoring Hafifihafiz shows he’s no half-fit veteran
KUALA LUMPUR:
Seasoned campaigner Hafifihafiz Hanafi is putting national forwards to shame in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).
The Maybank forward, who turns 33 on March 2, still has the killer instinct in him as he has scored 10 goals – five from penalty corners and five field goals – in nine Premier Division matches.
The former international, who played for Malaysia in the 2014 World Cup, is the second highest scorer in the MHL. National and Tenaga Nasional forward Muhd Firhan Ashari is the third highest scorer with nine goals.
Terengganu’s Jang Jong-hyun, who was the top scorer in the MHL in 2017, is the top scorer with 14 goals in nine matches.
Hafifihafiz said he is still having a good run in the league despite being in his 30s.
“I’m more than pleased with my scoring ability in the league. I believe I can score more goals with four league matches remaining,” he said.
“I’m also surprised that I’ve scored more goals than the national forwards. And this augurs well for me as the forward and captain of Maybank,” said Hafifihafiz, who has been playing in the MHL for the last 15 years.
He made his MHL debut in 2004 and played for Maybank before he joined Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) for a year.
But he came back to play for Maybank in 2006 and has stayed with the Tigers. Maybank are fourth in the table with 15 points from five wins and three defeats.
They have a tough weekend as they face last year’s league champions Terengganu at the Batu Buruk Hockey Stadium in Kuala Terengganu today.
On Sunday, they take on Tan Sri P. Alagendra Cup champions Tenaga Nasional at the Tengku Abdullah Hockey Stadium in Bangi. Hafifihafiz said that the challenge would be for them to get the better of Terengganu and Tenaga this weekend.
“We narrowly lost to Terengganu (4-3) at home in the first round but it’s not easy to beat them in their own backyard. We’ll have our back against the wall against Tenaga, who trounced us (7-1) in the first round. I hope my teammates can rise to the occasion and give their best in both the matches this week,” said Hafifihafiz.