Malaysia

Sapura skipper S. Kuhan turned out to be the hero for the team when he converted a hattrick of penalty corners to beat Ernst and Young 3-0 in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) match at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium, here Friday.

Sapura, last year's league champions, however struggled to find the target and had to settle for a goalless first half.

But, just four minutes after the breather, Kuhan broke the deadlock when he converted his first goal via the semicircle and added two more with a similar fashion in the 49th and 59th minutes.

Sapura coach Tai Beng Hai said his team played too cautiously in the opening half but penalty corners saved their days.

"I cannot deny that penalty corners helped us a lot today. Kuhan as usual played up to the expectation by scoring thrice from the short corners," he said.

After three matches, Sapura were in fourth placing with six points, one point behind third-placed Maybank and three points adrift of leaders Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and second-placed Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN).

League leaders TNB and second-placed BSN maintained their 100 percent record in three matches by beating Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) 2-1 and SAS Pahang 3-0 respectively.

TNB, last year's overall champions, opened accounts after just nine minutes through a field goal by Fairuz Ramli.

Hong Kong import Arif Ali equalised for RMR in the 53rd minute but two minutes later, Fazreen Eksan scored the winner.

In KUANTAN, BSN skipper Badrul Hisham Osman scored a brace via the penalty corners in the 21st and 28th minutes while Fikri Bassar added the third off a field goal in the 47th minute.

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