05 May

Korea defeated Canada 4-0 in the final of the Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge 1 at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium in Kuantan and in the process qualified for the 2016 Champions Trophy. It was a proud moment for Korean captain Seung Il Lee, who was also named Man of the Match when he received the gold medal from the Sultan of Pahang, His Royal Highness Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah. After all, it was their first victory in the final of the Champions Challenge 1 after three earlier failed attempts. They had reached the final in 2003, 2005 and 2012. Jong Hyun Jang...

03:35 / International / Local / Sports
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04 May

It was another night of high-drama for national coach K. Dharmaraj’s Malaysia in the semi-finals of the Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge 1 against Canada before going down 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out following a 2-2 draw in regulation time at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium in Kuantan. The Canadians, who lost 4-3 against Malaysia in the preliminary round, will meet Korea in tomorrow’s final. The Koreans edged the Irish ‘Green Machine’ 2-1 in the second semi-finals. This is the first time in history that Canada reached the Champions Challenge 1 final as their best finish before this was the sixth place...

04:31 / International / Local / Sports
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03 May

Having eliminated New Zealand, the hot favourites, Malaysia’s head coach K. Dharmaraj is bracing for another roller-coaster but plutonic battle against Canada in the semi-finals of the Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge 1 at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium today. Though he professed to have a rather intimate knowledge of the Canadians having met five times in the last three months, the latest being the narrow 4-3 win in a Group B preliminary round match on Tuesday, Dharmaraj says the situation is totally one of a different kind going into the semi-finals. “As much as we have good knowledge of Canada, it goes...

04:45 / International / Local / Sports
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02 May

Malaysia turned the form book upside down on Labour Day by sneaking into the semi-finals of the Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge 1 with a 3-2 penalty shoot-out victory over tournament favourites New Zealand after both teams were tied 4-4 at full time at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium in Kuantan. In Saturday’s semi-finals line-up, Malaysia goes into a showdown with Canada who came through 3-2 winners over Poland, and Ireland faces Korea. The ‘Green Machine’ Irish walked away 3-0 winners over France in a penalty shoot-out after holding the Tricolores to a 2-2 draw. Korea, ranked at World No 7, also...

05:09 / Local / Sports
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30 Apr

Malaysia suffered a 3-1 defeat against Korea in the Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge 1 at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium. National coach K. Dharmaraj once again placed his faith on the experience of forwards Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin, Ismail Abu, Faizal Shaari and Ahmad Kazamirul for the goals, leaving the German-based Kevin Lim and team captain Azlan Misron to marshal the back line. The hosts got off to a rousing start in front of 3,000 fans and earned the first penalty corner on 11 minutes of play but Ahmad Kazamirul blew it away by firing over the top, much to chagrin of the...

05:09 / International / Local / Sports
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30 Apr

World rankings do matter but there will be an exception to this notion when Malaysian head coach K. Dharmaraj prepares his boys for a ‘psychological battle’ against New Zealand in the quarterfinals of the Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge 1 at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium on Thursday. Dharmaraj will throw caution to the wind against the Black Sticks, ranked World No 6, in a mission that could see the Malaysians either make a ‘giant step forward’ or exit from the tournament with pride still intact. The Malaysia-New Zealand match will kick-off at 2.45pm and this will be the first time the host...

05:09 / International / Local / Sports
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24 Apr

Debutant France arrived for the Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge 1 hoping to create ripples of waves in this seaside city of Kuantan, beginning with the Group B tie against hosts Malaysia at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium on Saturday. French coach Frederic Soyez said they have included 12 players from the Junior World Cup squad that claimed silver in New Delhi, India, last December, and hopes to reach their target of at least a fifth finish among the eight teams participating. “We just finished playing test matches against Belgium. Although we lost in these matches it gave us good account before coming...

06:02 / International / Local / Sports
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