Sports

Monday April 17, 2006

Div 2 runners-up not afraid of fancied Tenaga

By AFTAR SINGH

KUALA LUMPUR: Division Two runners-up Tunku Besar School of Tampin are not perturbed over having to play against former champions Tenaga Nasional in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Junior Hockey League (MJHL).

The draw for the quarter-finals was made at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday. The first-leg quarter-final matches will be played on Sunday and the return-leg matches scheduled for April 30.

The other quarter-final ties have Division Two champions Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) up against Division One runners-up Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ); Division One winners Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) against Datuk Taha; and BJSS Juniors against Old La Sallians Association of Klang (Olak).

Tunku Besar assistant manager Azhar Ali said yesterday they were delighted to have reached the knockout stage with a young team, whose average age was 16. “We made our debut last year and finished sixth in Division Two. We made tremendous progress this season and have gained promotion to Division One as the Division Two runners-up,” he said.

“We will give incentives to the players for their fine performance in the league matches to further motivate them for the knockout.”

He added that they had not seen Tenaga, who finished third in Division One, in action.

“But we have no fear playing against them in the quarter-finals. We will rely on team work to get a good result,” he said.

BPSS will go into the quarter-finals with the record of having won all their nine matches in Division Two.

Coach Wan Mohd Roslan said that they would face their first real test in the quarter-finals against MPPJ.

“Most of the MPPJ players are formerly from BPSS and it will be like the seniors versus the juniors,” said Mohd Roslan.

It is expected to be a stroll for BJSS, who bagged their fourth consecutive Division One league title last week, over Datuk Taha. In the league, BJSS hammered Datuk Taha 9-0.

However, the BJSS Juniors will have tough opponents in former double champions Olak. Both teams played to a 4-4 draw in a Division One match.

Olak assistant manager Philip Andrew said that it was good for his team to draw BJSS Juniors as their quarter-final opponents. “Our match against BJSS Juniors will be touch-and-go,’’ said Philip.

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