Malaysia: KL, Juniors set for fourth Razak Cup final clash
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| Malaysia |
December 3, 2004
The Star Online
BY S. RAMAGURU
KUALA LUMPUR: It looks likely to be Kuala Lumpur and National Juniors yet again in the Razak Cup hockey final.
The city team, who are chasing their ninth consecutive title, take on Malacca in the first semi-final today while Perak are the Juniors' opponents in the other semi-final.
Both the teams should be a shoo-in for the final with only the Juniors facing some opposition. Malacca should be easy meat for Kuala Lumpur and have admitted that they are only in the tournament to blood their youngsters.
Since 2000, Kuala Lumpur and the National Juniors have contested in three finals. In 2002, the Juniors met the KL side at the semi-final stage. On all occasions, the KL side came out winners.
National player Ismail Abu is one of two injury worries for the National Juniors when they face Perak in the Razak Cup semi-finals today.
KL coach S. Sivabalan is happy with his players' form and felt they could still perform better. Penalty corner expert Mohamed Amin Rahim is injured but is likely to be in the team for the final.
His hand is slightly swollen. But if he can hold the stick and play, we will use him in the final, said Sivabalan.
Midfielder P. Prabhakaran is the surprise top scorer of the tournament with nine goals. He scored five goals in the opening match and has been on target in all four matches. He will again be the player KL will look to for the goals.
Others like Jiwa Mohan, Tajol Rosli, Faisal Daud, Mohamed Fairuz Ramli are also able to score and are likely to prove too much for Malacca.
Malacca have admitted that they are not championship materials.
We can only try and play our normal game and hopefully the players will take whatever chances that come our way.
We have nothing to lose and it will be a big step for the players if they can match the KL players, said coach S. Vellapan.
The other semi-final tie could be a closer affair.
The National Juniors have not been too impressive in their preliminary round matches.
They are not likely to take it easy against Perak and assistant coach Tai Beng Hai, who will take charge of the team today, will need a proper strategy against Perak team. Junior's chief coach Sarjit Singh is away in Lahore to watch the Champions Trophy.
The Juniors have two players on the injury list. Ismail Abu has a muscle pain on his leg and did not play in the last match against Singapore. Mohamed Soffian also did not play as he was sick.
The Juniors' main worry, however, is their midfield, where they do not have a leader.
We will continue to search for the right player but we also have an option of using a five-man defence to help counter this problem. We will have to wait and see and for the moment we may just continue with the same line up, said Sarjit before leaving for Lahore.
Perak coach Manjit Singh admitted that it would be tough going but hoped his young players would rise to the occasion.
Ours is a young team. But the semi-final is a different game and we will try our best.
Still, one gets the feeling that no matter how hard they try, the same two teams will be in the final again.
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