News

UniKL going the extra mile to land double this season

2012-01-03 05:01:00

Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) are hellbent on capturing the elusive double that got away from them last season.

So determined are UniKL that they began preparing two months ago for their quest to become only the fourth team after Yayasan Negri Sembilan (YNS), Old La Sallians Association of Klang (Olak) and Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) to bag the Malaysian Junior Hockey League (MJHL) double.

Team manager Amir Hamzah Ibrahim said they were hugely disappointed not to win the double earlier this year and had started preparing for the MJHL, which begins on Jan 19, in October.

UniKL made their debut in 2009 and finished fourth in Division One. Last year, they emerged Division One runners-up behind Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS)–Thunderbolt in the league but beat the sports school in the final to bag the overall title.

This year, the university team powered by 11 national Project 2013 squad players won the league but failed to defend the overall crown after losing in a penalty shootout to BPSS–Thunderbolt in the final.

“Although we only have four Project 2013 squad players for the 2012 campaign, our target is to capture the double we came so close to snaring this year,” said Amir.

The four players from the Project squad are Mohd Hafiz Zainal, Fahed Saifullah, Mohd Nor Aqmal and Mohd Syafiq Zul Zairin.

“We have retained former international K. Embaraj as the coach and he will be assisted by M. Nadeson. Former international S. Selvaraju, who played for us in the MHL, is also helping out in training,” said Amir.