Milo Cup (NSC Malaysian Junior Hockey League): Olak v SSTMI-Thunderbolt

Monday, March 3, 2014

One of the tomorrow’s semi-final match-ups of Milo Cup will feature Sekolah Sukan Tunku Mahkota Ismail (SSTMI) – Thunderbolt, the defending champion and ‘hot favourite’ against Old La Sallians Association of Klang (Olak-PKT). Olak has just made into the semis of the tournament after a 14-year hiatus. It will be a classic David versus Goliath with nobody tipping Olak for stopping the mighty Thunderbolt getting into the final. Sekolah Sukan Tunku Mahkota Ismail (formerly known as Sekolah Sukan Bandar Penawar) – Thunderbolt has been UNBEATEN this season and had destroyed MSP Pahang Juniors in the two-leg quarter-final by 22-2 aggregate. Olak in comparison scrapped through to the semis with 4-2 aggregate over Malacca High School, a team that was trashed by SSTMI-Thunderbolt 2 -7 in their league match last month.

Before the creation of the sport schools, Olak used to be the king of Malaysian Junior Hockey League. They won the Division One title three times from 1997 to 1999 while taking the overall title (The Milo Cup) in 1998, 1999 and 2000. They were powered by several top national junior players at that time such as Redzuan Ponirin and Radzlan Razi. However, since the sport schools entered into the picture, Olak slowly fell into the doldrums and were demoted to Division Two. They were unable to entice new talents as the two sports schools (Bukit Jalil and Bandar Penawar) were making inroads in the NSC Malaysian Junior Hockey League. In 2003, Bukit Jalil Sport School (BJSS) won their first league title and since then it was a total domination by BJSS and SSTMI, albeit a one-year intervention in 2010 by UniKL.

For this year’s edition, SSTMI-Thunderbolt has won the Division One title by winning all of their six matches while averaging 6.8 goals per game. It is their fifth league titles in a row and is odd-on to add the Milo Cup into their growing list of achievements. Star forward, Muhamad Aminudin Mohd Zain is set to lead the charge with the assistance of several other key players such as Amirol Aideed Md Arshad and Azril Misron, the younger brother of national player Azlan Misron.

As a hockey fan, I’m hoping for a good and entertaining match tomorrow. Let’s hope that Olak can raise their game and give the Thunderbolt a run for their money. It will be a great result if Olak can upset the champion from the neutral’s perspective. However, looking at the way SSTMI-Thunderbolt has been performing the odds are stacked against Olak. Still, they really have nothing to lose and I expect them to go all out and play free flowing hockey. Since Olak will be playing in Division One next season, this game will be very useful to them to gauge their standard, especially against the top side like SSTMI-Thunderbolt.

The other semi-final is between UniKL Young Guns and Petaling Jaya City Council. Both matches will be played at National Hockey Stadium Bukit Jalil, starting from 4 pm. If you are free tomorrow, please see them in action and support our Junior Hockey League.

Pic credit: malaysianhockey.blogspot.com

- Brader Sports