Malaysia: KL and Juniors to battle for title
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| Malaysia |
December 4, 2004
New Straits Times
Jugjet Singh
KUALA Lumpur had to wait until the second half, while the National Juniors were taken to the final minute of sudden-death extra-time to book their tickets to the final of the 100Plus Power-Razak Cup at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
KL, the 15-time champions, were stumped by the determination of a young Malacca side for 35 minutes, and were saved, largely by their goalkeeper S. Kumar who was in terrific form.
And in the Juniors-Perak semi-finals, Perak goalkeeper Fitri Abdul Aziz kept them in the fight until the 85th minute before he was finally beaten by Mohamed Suffian.
In regulation time, the Juniors were lost for ideas, as all their attacks either failed to click, or were stopped by Fitri.
The match remained scoreless for 70 minutes, and both teams failed to break the deadlock for 14 minutes of sudden-death, until the Juniors were awarded a penalty corner seconds before the hooter sounded for penalty strokes.
It was a tense moment, but after wasting all their other chances, the Juniors finally got this penalty corner right. Zulkifli Rejab's low push was deflected into goal by Suffian.
It was another agonising moment for Perak who lost in the semi-finals for the third time in a row in the Razak Cup. And the irony is that in the last edition in Malacca, the Juniors were held 2-2 by Perak in the last four, but won 2-0 on penalty strokes.
As for Kuala Lumpur, Malacca made them sweat for 51 minutes before Tajol Rosli scored a penalty corner deflection. Malacca broke down after that and Azlan Misron added the second in the 56th minute, before Tajol got the third in the 58th. Today's final of the tournament's 42nd edition will be a repeat of the showdown in Malacca last year which the National Juniors lost 3-1. "It will be touch-and-go. Even though we have a better team than last year, Kuala Lumpur have experience on their side," said Juniors assistant coach Tai Beng Hai.
Perak coach Manjit Singh, sounding very disappointed and with reason to be, said he could not believe his luck after his side failed to make the final for the third consecutive year.
The National Juniors, preparing for next year's Junior World Cup, must prove their worth today against Kuala Lumpur who will be going for their 10th straight title.
FIXTURES Final: Kuala Lumpur v National Juniors (6pm, Pitch I); Third-Fourth: Malacca v Perak (3.30pm, Pitch I).
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