PETALING JAYA, March 20 – Selangor went to town in celebrating a 1-1 draw with seven-time Super League champions Johor Darul Takzim in a mid-week match but on Saturday, the Red Giants were embarrassed with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of newcomers Penang at the Petaling Jaya Stadium.

It is Penang’s second win in the Super League after defeating Kuala Lumpur City FC 1-0 in the opening match.

Al-Hafiz Harun scored Penang’s first goal in the 37th minute when he drilled home an unstoppable shot past Selangor’s national goalkeeper Khairul Azhan Khalid from an assist by Tajikistan midfielder Sheriddin Boboev. It was the tonic they needed to boost their confidence.

On the other hand, Selangor had a tough time against the visitors who fought and chased for every ball.

Selangor started aggressively but misses by Ifedayo Olusegun and Shahrel Fikri took the wind out of the homesters.

The Selangor backline caved in again to stop a Penang counter attack and Khairul Azhan was forced to leave his goal to clear the ball but made a mess in his attempt and lurking Danial Ashraf Abdullah was on hand to hit home Penang’s second goal in the 73rd minute.

The heavy pitch was not a problem for the visitors who took their chances well to score and return home with a victory that gives them hope of better things to come.

Melaka United FC scored from two penalties at the Hang Jebat Stadium with Alex Goncalves converting both for his team to beat Kuala Lumpur City FC 2-1.

At the UiTM FC Stadium in Shah Alam, Kedah collected full points with a 1-0 win over UiTM FC. Faizat Ghazi netted the winner in the 42nd minute.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 – It happened last year and it has happened again but Melaka United FC does not seem to have learned its lesson of having three points deducted at the start of the new football season.

With the three-point deduction, the Super League outfit has plunged to 10th place in the 12-team league – down two rungs.

The Malaysian Football League’s (MFL) Licensing First Instance Body has come down hard on the errant team for defaulting payment of late salaries for players and officials of Melaka United FC based on a set schedule.

It is a disgrace that the Melaka FA deputy president Datuk Yusoff Mahadi is also a deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). He is also the national team manager.

The Melaka FA president is Datuk Sulaiman Ali who is also the Melaka Chief Minister.

Late salaries have been a perennial problem for Melaka but somehow has been able to get some leeway on the matter.

In a statement released by the MFL on Friday, it stated Melaka FC was found to have failed to respect the schedule agreed on the second payment and thus has been slapped with a three-point deduction in the league.

Melaka FC met the first deadline of Jan 31, 2021, and paid the salary arrears to players and officials accordingly. It further warned that if Melaka FC repeats the offense it would face further action.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 – After six defeats to world No 1 and two time world champion, Malaysia’s top shuttler Lee Zii Jia packed off Japan’s Kento Momota in straight games 21-16, 21-19 to reach the men’s singles semi-finals in the Super 1000 All-England Championships in Birmingham on Friday.

The ”execution” of the Japanese in 55 minutes on Court 1 at Utilita Arena was not only sweet for the 23 years old Malaysian who had come in for a lot of flak for his disappointing outing in the Yonex Thailand Open, the Toyota Thailand Open and World Tour Finals in Bangkok earlier this year but he showed what he has in his game to take his challengers.

Datuk Tey Seu Bok who is Zii Jia’s coach in Birmingham, was one happy man with the player’s win for a place in the semifinals – a feat he achieved last year in the same prestigious tournament. Zii will face Dutchman, Mark Caljouw for a place in Sunday’s final.

Caljouw ousted India’s hope and former Asian Junior champion Lakshya Sen in three games – 21-17, 16-21, 21-17 – also in a 55-minute encounter.

”Zii Jia played well in the match today. He had nothing to lose and his fighting spirit was exemplary,” said Seu Bok from Birmingham after the match.

This is Zii Jia’s second semi-final in two weeks after reaching the last four in the Yonex Swiss Open which was a Super 300 tournament.

He lost to Thailand’s three-time Junior World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-18, 21-10.

In the match against Momota, the Malaysian ranked No 10 showed hunger and was aggressive in his game which rattled the Japanese.

Momota is making a comeback to competitive badminton after a year. He was badly injured after competing in the Malaysian Masters when the van he was traveling on the way to the airport was involved in an accident, killing the driver.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 – The forced withdrawal of the entire Indonesian team from this year’s All England Championships has sparked outrage in badminton mad Indonesia.

It could have far-reaching consequences as questions are being asked on the manner it was done.

The withdrawal ruling was enforced after several of the Indonesian players had already played and won their respective first-round matches. Several others were forced to concede walkovers.

What happened in Birmingham with the world’s oldest and most prestigious tournament in the shuttle sport is a hot topic and the backlash is being felt in Indonesia.

The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) has called it an act of ”discrimination ánd unfairness” with a hidden agenda.

A statement issued by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) confirmed that several players and officials from the Indonesian team were contacted by the United Kingdom’s National Health Services (NHS) and ordered to self-isolate with immediate effect for 10 days from the date of their inbound flight to Birmingham on Saturday.

This was after an unidentified passenger in their Turkish flight tested positive for coronavirus.

It happened after Jonatan Christie (men’s singles), Marcus Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya, and Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (men’s doubles) had played and won their first-round matches. Others who had not played their matches were forced to concede a walkover.

Indonesian badminton fans accused BWF of unfairness while PBSI chairman Agung Firman Sampurba added that ”disabling” Indonesian players is one way for the host nastion to stop Indonesians from becoming champions in the All England.

Indonesia’s Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali said it is ”injustice” for the players and said: ”Íf we ignore it will be seen as weak with the possibility of being treated the same way in future events.”

”The players and officials were tested negative on arrival and they were allowed to mingle. It does not make sense to ‘punish’ them this way. The tournament and Covid-19 rules should be spelled out clearly. Right now it is utter confusion.”

The self-quarantine of the team will also be a costly affair for PBSI as it will have to foot the bill during the stay in Birmingham.

A fact to be noted is that all the Indonesian players and officials had taken their vaccination before going to Birmingham.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 – Recently crowned Swiss Open women doubles champions Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah is going great guns in the year of the Golden Ox as the All-England debutants roared into the quarter-finals after knocking out English pair Jessica Hopton-Jenny Moore in the second round on Thursday.

The young Malaysians gave their confidence a big boost in the Super 1000 event in Birmingham with a 21-18, 21-7 win in 32 minutes.

The victory came in the wake of 21-17, 23-21 win over fourth seeds and World No 7 Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand in the first round.

Pearly-Thinaah ranked No 22, also reached the quarter-finals in the Yonex Thailand Open and the Toyota Thailand Open this year.

Malaysian hope in the men’s singles Lee Zii Jia also made the last eight after defeating veteran Denmark’s veteran Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in straight games 21-12, 21-13  in 35 minutes.

The under-fire national No 1 earned a mouth-watering clash against World No 1 and top seed Kento Momota of Japan.

The Japanese ace who won the prestigious All-England in 2019, defeated India’s S. Prannoy 21-10, 21-10 and is the hot favorite for the title this year. Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen is the defending champion.

In the mixed doubles, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying had to ensure two matches on Thursday to reach the last eight. In the morning it was a three-game battle against Danish pair Mathias Thyrri-Mai Surrow before prevailing 21-23, 21-15, 21-12.

The Malaysian professionals had an easier second-round match against Thailand’s Nipitphon Phuangphuapet-Benyapa Aimsaard for a 21-9, 21-8 win.

However, in the men’s doubles, it was the end for professionals Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong and Ong Yew Sin.

V Shem-Wee Kiong fell 19-21, 18-21 to Danes Mathias Christiansen-Niclas Nohr while Yew Sin-Ee Yi crashed to a 21-10, 21-19 defeat to defending champions Yuta Watanabe-Hiroyuki Endo of Japan.

JOHOR BAHRU, March 17 – It was a night when Lady Luck chose to smile on Selangor FC and the Red Giants put a dent in Johor Darul Takzim’s pride with a 1-1 draw at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Bahru on Wednesday.

Selangor also became the first team to score against the Southern Tigers at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium when Ifedayo Olusegun drilled past the onrushing Farizal Marlias after outwitting Corbin Ong on seven minutes.

JDT was quick to respond after conceding an early goal and made it 1-1 after 12 minutes when the new Brazilian signing Bengson Da Silva blasted home an assist from Gonzalo Cabrera. Many thought it was the beginning of JDT’s night of more goals to come.

Instead, it was the beginning of a nightmare for the Southern Tigers although the homesters were dominant.

JDT’s dominance resulted in winning two penalties, both via the 18-year-old  Ariff Aiman who made his Super League debut and scored a goal in the 4-0 win over UiTM FC last week.

Ariff won his first penalty in the 41st minute when he was brought down inside the box by Selangor defender Ashmawi Yakin.

Cabrera took the spot-kick but the Argentine skied the ball much to the dismay of all and Selangor escaped falling behind.

In JDT coach Benjamin Mora’s own words missing the penalty was ”demoralising” in many ways when going into the dressing room for the break.

Ariff Aiman was a handful for the Selangor defenders and he earned another penalty for JDT in the 78th minute.

This time it was Bengson who took the spot-kick but the Brazilian muffed his spot-kick too with Selangor keeper Khairul Azhan Khalid making a brilliant save – diving to his left to keep the attempt out. Selangor celebrated while the Southern Tigers were crestfallen.

”The result does not leave me satisfied. It was a difficult first 30 minutes for us. Selangor gained confidence after getting an early goal. We played better in the second half…it was ours with good possession and opportunities,” said Mora.

The Mexican, however is not blaming any player.

Meanwhile, at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Setar, Kedah came back from a goal down to beat Petaling Jaya City FC 3-1 while Terengganu shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw at the Sultan Mizan Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur City FC whipped Perak 3-0 at the Cheras Stadium to move into third place on seven points. JDT tops the table with 10 points – ahead of Terengganu on goal difference. Kedah also has seven points but is in fourth place due to the goal difference.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 – Sarawak United won Sarawak derby bragging rights with a 2-0 win over Kuching City FC in Tuesday’s Premier League match played at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Melaka – a win which stretched their unbeaten run to three matches.

It took the Golden Hornbills to the top of the table with nine points. More importantly for E. Elavarasan and his team, it was another clean sheet. It is a huge boost in confidence for the next match when they play Terengganu II at the same venue this Sunday.

Elavarasan, however, made it clear that the battle is just beginning and warned his players from now on, every team will be out to become the first to beat the Sarawak United.

”It was not an easy win against Kuching City…it was tough all the way. Derby matches are always keenly contested but we did well for the win,” said Elavarasan on his team’s win.

”Kuching too had their chances but we defended well to deny them from finding the net. We need to keep improving on the overall performance to face more tough matches. The season is still a long way to go.”

Sarawak United has made the Hang Jebat Stadium their home during the Covid-19 pandemic and it is fast turning out to be a happy hunting ground for the Golden Hornbills. However, it stops at that for Elavarasan and the team.

”Home or away, every match is tough. You have to be prepared to win matches to achieve your targets and this calls for teamwork. Team effort counts,” added Elavarasan who is into his second season with Sarawak United.

Sarawak United through their Nigerian striker Uche Agba in the 9th minute before Stuart Wark added the second seconds before the half-time break.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 – It was another clean sheet for Sarawak United as they roared to a 2-0 win over Kuching City FC in the Premier League’s Sarawak derby played at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Melaka on Tuesday.

The Golden Hornbills are perched on top of the 12-team league with nine points after earlier wins over Kelantan United (2-0) and Perak II (3-0). Negri Sembilan is in second place with seven points from three matches followed by Kelantan FC and Kelantan United with the same number of points but has played four matches each.

For Kuching City FC it was their second defeat in a row after going down 3-1 to Johor Darul Takzim II over the weekend following a 1-1 draw with Terengganu II in their opening match.

Sarawak United which has undergone a massive revamp this season went full throttle as early as the ninth minute with Nigerian hitman Uche Agba on target from an assist by Christie Jayaseelan. It is his fourth goal in the league.

Stuart Wark added the second in injury time before the half-time break when he beat Kuching City goalkeeper Iqbal Suhaimi off a corner by South Korean midfielder Lee Chan-hoon.

Sarawak United head coach E. Elavarasan is not getting carried away with his team’s impressive start to the season. His team’s next match is against Terengganu II at the Hang Jebat Stadium.

JOHOR BAHRU, March 16 – The 10th edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 invitational tournament will be an eight-team affair this year instead of six with Canada, Egypt, and South Africa making their first appearance in the world acclaimed tournament.

Last year’s tournament was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year’s tournament has been scheduled to be held at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru from Sept 5-12. The stadium with world-class facilities was also the venue for the Junior World Finals in 2009.

Johor Hockey Association president Dato Manjit Majid Abdullah said the other countries which have confirmed participation are India, Australia, Great Britain, Japan, and host Malaysia.

For the first time, the SOJC will be played under a new format. The eight teams will be drawn into two groups with the top two teams in their respective groups playing in the cross over semifinals.

In the past, it was a round-robin league with the top two teams playing in the final and the third and fourth-placed teams vying for third place.

The SOJC is a great hit with teams, especially teams that qualify for the Junior World Cup Finals to be hosted by India later this year (the FIH has yet to announce dates). India is also the defending Junior World Cup champions.

Most of the teams taking part in this year’s SOJC are expected to qualify for the Junior World Cup Finals from their respective continents. India as host has already qualified for the Junior Cup Finals.

“It is going to be a week-long of hockey extravaganza. Teams have been deprived of top-class hockey due to the pandemic. With Canada, Egypt, and South Africa coming into the fray for the first time it will be interesting to see if there will be a new champion,” said Manjit who has single-handedly ensured the smooth running of the SOJC.

The SOJC is the only annual international Under-21 tournament and is the brainchild of the two royalties – the Sultan of Johor and the present Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al Sultan Abdullah the then Crown Prince of Pahang. It was inaugurated in 2011.

The sports-loving royalties did not want to leave the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium, located on the outskirts of the booming Johor Bahru City, a white elephant.

Malaysia was the inaugural champions of the Sultan of Johor Cup after defeating Australia 3-2 in extra time with the score tied at 2-2 in regulation time. Great Britain is the only team to have won the title three times (2015, 2018, 2019) while India (2013, 2014) and Australia (2016, 2017) have won the Cup twice each.

Germany won the title once and this was in 2012 with a 3-2 win over India in the final.