Kuala Lumpur and Perlis win on Day One of 49th 100PLUS Tun Abdul Razak Cup: Hockey Recap
The 49th 100PLUS Tun Abdul Razak Cup opened up yesterday, May 27 at the University Science Malaysia Hockey Stadium for the North Zone match, at the Ministry of Education Pitch for Central Zone match, Malaysia.
The first day featured four matches out of which two were between the defending champions Kuala Lumpur and Perak in the Central Zone qualifier whereas between Penang and Perlis for the Northern Zone qualifier.
Kuala Lumpur had a very tough fight against Perak during the match. However, at the end, the title defenders succeeded with a 2-1 win over their opponents of the Central Zone.
During the match, second half of the match, both the teams were locked up with a tie at 1-1. However, national player, Nabil Fiqri, representing Kuala Lumpur saved the day on sealing the lead score on the 61st minute mark. Moreover, the opening
goal had also been delivered by him on the first minute of the match, making a total of two goals in the first match for him.
On the other hand, the only goal delivered from the Perak side was shot by Riduan Nasir in the opening sixth minute of the match.
In the second match of the day, it was an unexpected loss for the Penang to be defeated by Perlis with 3-1.
Despite the fact that Kuala Lumpur sent its eight players to the Project 2013 squad that is currently touring Australia and New Zealand, they managed to perform well in their first appearance in the Razak Cup.
On the other hand, the players sent for the international tour had matches against the junior Australian side and were defeated by a despicable 1-9, but later improved to end their second counter at a 1-2 loss. Their improvement chart kept rising that lead
their third match to a draw at 5-5.
The fourth match of the Project 2013 squad is tomorrow, May 29 in Perth, Australia. The assistant coach of the Kuala Lumpur, K. Embaraj, admitted to miss the young players that have been sent out for the tour and commented, “Yes, KL missed the young legs
which we released to the Project side. That is why we lacked speed, especially in attack.”
Due to the Four-nation that is to be held in Moscow from June 20-26, the national players of Malaysia will skip the qualifiers with an automatic bye into the successive round of the Razak Cup.
The next matches scheduled for the tournament include:
NORTH ZONE
May 28 Penang v Armed Forces, Perlis v Kedah
May 29 Perlis v Armed Forces, Penang v Kedah
CENTRAL ZONE
May 28 Kuala Lumpur v Project 2017, Selangor v Perak
May 29 Perak v Project 2017, Kuala Lumpur v Selangor
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