Malaysia Inaugural King of the Beach

Malaysia emerged as the inaugural champions of the AFF Beach Soccer Championship held at the Teluk Chempedak Beach, Kuantan today after beating Vietnam 6-4 in the final.

Thailand took third place after beating Laos 4-1 in their playoff match.

Malaysia, with players from Terengganu making the core of the squad finished second in Group B behind the Laotians with two wins over Myanmar and the Phillipines to qualify for the semi-finals.

With Felda the main sponsor for the event, they were also represented by a team but did not make it out from their group, finishing bottom after losing all their matches.

Malaysia beat Group A winners, Thailand 3-2 in a pulsating encounter with the winner coming in extra time after both sides tied at 2-2 at the end of normal time.

In the other semi-final, Laos failed to hold on to a two goal lead against Vietnam and succumbed to a 3-2 loss.

The final played before a strong crowd saw Malaysia dominated and raced to a three goal lead through a brace from Mohamad Zaharim and Mohammad Fakhrullah before Bui Tran Tuan Ahn replied for Myanmar.

Zaharim completed his hattrick with his next strike but Tran Vihn Phuong reduced the deficit again before Mohamad Norazman restored Malaysia three goal lead almost immediately.

Malaysia seemed to take their foot off the gas after this and it allowed Vietnam to chase the game and made it 5-4 with Tuan Ahn becoming another player to complete a hattrick.

Mohamad Riduwan then put some cushion with another goal for Malaysia.

However they suffered a major blow when Norazman was given his marching order towards the end of the match but Vietnam could not take advantage and Malaysia were crowned the first champions of AFF Beach Soccer Championship.

Double Success for Terengganu Sports School SMK Bukit Nenas

Terengganu Sports School, SMK Bukit Nenas registered a double victory when their teams emerged as champions in two age group competitions organised by the Ministry of Education.

The senior SMK Bukit Nenas side recorded a 6-1 win over Sarawak Sports School, SMK Tabuan Jaya in the final of the Ministry of Education - FAM Youth League Cup Under 17 League in the afternoon.

Their juniors meanwhile repeated the feat later in the evening when they met Penang Sports School, SMK Mutiara Impian in the final of the Minister of Education Cup Under 14 League, winning the match 1-0.

Both matches were played at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium, Kuala Terengganu.

THT Aiming for MHL Glory

The Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) have announced their target for the upcoming Malaysian Hockey League (MHL), that is to win at least one of the titles on the offer.

THT squad is full with internationals with Shahrun Nabil, the Saari brothers: Faizal and Fitri, Firhan Ashaari, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin joining Malaysia captain Azlan Misron.

They helped Malaysia to finish fourth behind host South Korea at the recent Asian Games in Incheon after losing to the Koreans in the bronze medal playoff.

Two other internationals, Muhamad Hafizuddin Othman and Hazrul Faiz who did not go to Incheon are given the task to keep out opponents from scoring.

Meanwhile the Malaysians will be reinforced by five Korean players: Kang Moon Kyu, Jang Jong Hyun, Kang Moon Kweon, Bae Jeong Seok and Seo Jong Ho. With the exception of Jong Ho, the rest helped South Korea securing the bronze medal at the expense of Malaysia in Incheon.

THT could also rely on the experience of former Malaysian internationals: Ismail Abu, Jivan Mohan, Balit Singh and Engku Abdul Abdul Malek Engku Mohamad to achieve their objectives.

The man in charge of coaching the squad is the experienced Sarjit Singh with Nik Rozemi Nik Mohamad and Shamsol Ismail providing the assistance.

Standing in their way are 2013 double champions KL Hockey Club (KLHC), Tenaga Nasional, Maybank, Sapura and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL). The MHL will begin in earnest on 29 October.


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