Friday February 15, 2013
Politeknik-KPT prefer underdogs tag against Kelantan
KUALA LUMPUR: With two key players out, Politeknik-KPT have played down their chances against MSS Kelantan in the MHC-Milo-NSC Junior Hockey League Division Two semi-finals at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
Defender Mohd Syafiq Shukor is down with fever while Mohd Azwan is still recovering from an eye injury he suffered in the match against Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) Juniors last week.
Politeknik KPT team manager Amir Awang said that with the two key players ruled out, “we will start as underdogs against Kelantan, who won all their eight Group A matches”.
“They have a solid team with prolific forwardline who have scored a whopping 38 goals in eight matches. So it’s going to be huge challenge for us to get the better of them,” said Amir.
The Johor-based Politeknik KPT made their league debut in 2011 and this will be the first semi-finals.
They finished as runners-up in Group B with eight wins and one defeat.
Amir, however, is hoping that his players will rise to occasion and turn the tables on Kelantan.
But that’ll be easier said than done as the Kelantan players are all fired up to make the final.
“We played well to win all our group matches ... our mission now is to qualify for the knockout stage and mover further,” said Kelantan manager Wan Nur Zuhari.
“If we qualify for the final, we’ll also gain promotion to Division One next year.”
The other semi-final is between Group B champions KL Sports School against Group A runners-up Anderson Juniors.
KL Sports School, who also won all their eight group matches, will start out as the favourites against the Ipoh school.
The Division Two teams who qualify for the final will feature in the quarter-finals and be promoted to Division One.
The Division Two final will be played in Bukit Jalil on Sunday.
The Division Two champions will receive RM12,000, the losing finalists RM8,500, the third team RM7,000 and the fourth RM6,000.
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