A rainy affair - RSUC visits RSC Kiara on 18th December 2021

 It was a match that was not meant to be, as it had been raining continuously for 2 days resulting in floods in several states, including Selangor, rendering our field unplayable this Saturday evening on 18^th Dec 2021.

The Malaysia Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) has even issued yellow and orange alerts indicating that the downpour was not stopping anytime soon, as reported in several news portals.

But even this could not deter the entourage from Royal Sg Ujong Club (RSUC) from making the trip to RSC Kiara and still enjoyed a wonderful dinner by our poolside amidst the pouring rain.

After the makan, the usual formalities followed, as Simon See presented the visiting team captain and manager with a token of appreciation. Thank you Chin Chin for graciously being the MC for the night.

Thank you RSUC for making it all the way here despite the rain

Although there were discussions on whether we were to proceed to penalty strokes or a game of billiards to decide the winner of this match, speeches by Simon and the RSUC captain made it clear that we still owed RSUC a hockey match and we will be happy to host them again. 

With or without hockey, makan minum will proceed!

It was also suggested that the next game should be played with mixed teams from both sides, as many felt that the camaraderie between our clubs built over the years is more important than the result or score of the match.

Some singing soon ensued with Gurbachan Singh from RSUC’s rendition of “Country Roads”. This was followed by a Hindi song by Harcharan Singh which seemed quite popular judging from the crowd’s reaction! The duo then became a trio, with Sarban Singh from RSUC joining in.

The singing trio that entertained us after dinner

The evening was made more merry once the music started playing, thanks to Hutch from RSUC, who kicked it off with the popular song “Kau Ilhamku” by Man Bai, which prompted a few unplanned sing-a-longs when other familiar songs were played.

We sincerely thank RSUC team members for the effort in driving over an hour in the wet conditions to get here, and then having to make the drive back after the dinner. It was a pleasure to host you!

With this final “match” concluded, the RSC Hockey Section Committee would like to say thank you to all our section members for your support and participation in 2021, and also our appreciation to the RSC Sports Department and the Sports Chairman for working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure our activities continue throughout the year.

Looking forward to a better 2022 and more hockey adventures (and makan minum, of course) in the coming year!

YEAR END MAKAN KECIL 2021

 In a blink of an eye, another year is coming to a close. With most of 2021 being interrupted by the various restrictions, we had to cramp almost everything in the last quarter of the year.

Nonetheless, we had the privilege of playing many Saturday grass hockey session, well participated by our section members and astroturf sessions on weekday nights - thanks to our ever diligent convenor, Simon See, for making the arrangements with our opponents, booking of stadium, arranging for our padang and organising the post-game beverages.

To add the icing to the cake, we had friendly games with Royal Sg Ujong Club, ex UMBC players and PJ Club played at Kiara Sports Annexe followed by our usual makan minum at the club.

Mixed team photo before the PJ Club game

RSC with the ex UMBC Sambas Hockey team

For all the above, we thank the club, the sport department and all the section members for supporting and participating in all our activities despite the short notice and limited resources in these recent months.

As a standing tradition of the hockey section, we held our section makan kecil on 27^th Nov 2021 (Saturday). Unfortunately, the unusually heavy and continuous rain meant we could not get on with our home vs home game, as it poured relentlessly for almost an hour.

It rained so hard, we could hardly see the clubhouse from our car

So, we turned our eyes to our screens instead, as we took this opportunity to watch the Malaysia vs South Africa game at the on-going 2021 Men’s FIH Hockey Junior World Cup played at Bhubaneswar. The hockey section had never been so quiet for a prolonged period, sipping on their teh tarik, with their eyes fixed on their phones!

Quietly watching the game on their phones

In the end, the Malaysian junior hockey team, managed by our hockey section member - I.Vikneswaran, won this crucial game 4-3 and qualified for the quarterfinals.

We may have had the game called off, but the poolside makan kecil was definitely ON!

The dinner theme was “Your Favourite Football Team” and it was refreshing to see the diversity of team jerseys being worn that night (although some didn’t seem to have received the memo!). 

Always working behind the scenes - Convenor and Sport Chairman keep the wheels turning 

Derek and Judith – Good to see you…. whilst Ranjit keep the rival supporters in check!

Nothing stops our section members from attending our makan kecil (CP – Spurs on crutches)

A real family affair - with and without the alcoholic beverage!

You Never Walk Alone – Vegetarians included!

It was also really great to see the family and partners of our section members, as well as a few not-so-regular guys turning up for the makan kecil. We hope to see more of you!

A special note of appreciation to the RSC Kiara F&B team for the delicious food, fantastic service and for being on the ball with the beverages. Keep up the good work! 

RSUC Friendly Match in Seremban

 With the opening up of interstate travel for the fully vaccinated, it didn’t take too long for us to be invited by Royal Sg Ujong Club (RSUC) to Seremban for a friendly game on Saturday, 13 November 2021.

The response was fantastic with over 20 players signing up! 

 

We played at the newly laid out Astroturf Seremban stadium on a beautiful cloudy evening.

Fantastic evening for a game of hockey – team photo before the game

It was a reunion of sorts for the RSC and RSUC captains, Sanjay and Kali, who played together in 1989 for Majlis Perbandaran Seremban. Sanjay was just a teenage rookie, whilst Kali was already a seasoned veteran back then.

 

All travelling RSC players were given a fair share of playing time over 4 x 20 minute sessions and the game was played in a competitive, yet friendly manner.

 

Mohindar and Grewal, who recently made a comeback to RSC hockey, showed us that age did not matter as they impressed with their running, chasing and creating play from the midfield.

Grewal commanding play from the midfield

Mohindar blazing down the right side of the midfield

However, RSC still found it difficult to break into the tough RSUC defence, who thoroughly marked out our forwards and cutting off the passes from our midfielders.

It took our attacking defensive player, Bernard, who pushed forward many times, to eventually earn us a penalty stroke – taken by Sanjay.

 

Alas, our luck did not get better as Sanjay’s powerful flick flew past the goalie’s stick and smashed into the back wall of the stadium, missing by just a “couple” of inches. 

Sanjay watched in disbelief as the ball missed the mark

Despite the tight marking, Rohit and Ray still managed to take advantage of the rare gaps in concentration by the RSUC defence and goalie to squeeze in a goal each. Well done guys!

Rohit harassing the RSUC defence   

Gerard not giving the opponent even an inch

Ray chasing… who got to the ball first?     

Surinder attempting to stop the RSUC forward

Vishnu first off the block!

Sukhdev keeping a close eye on the ball

Unfortunately, with the frequent rotation of players in the RSC defence, RSUC capitalised on their opportunities in our D, as they scored 4 goals to eventually win 4-2. Congratulations RSUC!

After the game, we adjourned to the beautiful RSUC clubhouse for dinner and the usual formalities. New friends were made and old friends were reacquainted, after many months of MCO. It was indeed a delightful evening for players from both teams.

 

All smiles now after the game - Charles and his marker Ragu

Rohit and Ray - Goal scorers’ rewarded 

Thank you RSUC for being such great hosts. We shall see you again in RSC soon for our return game!

A Most Memorable Hockey Fiesta on 16th Oct 2021 at Kiara Sports Annexe!

 In the Hockey AGMs of recent years, the one recurring theme has always been 5-a-side hockey at Kiara. An idea mooted and reminded yearly by Dato R.Yogeswaran after Malaysia had won the Hockey 5-a-side competition in the Olympic Youth 2019, held in Barcelona.

With the support of the then Sports Chairman, Charlie Chelliah, the field in front of the Pavilion was allocated for 5-a-side hockey field, and our Saturday grass hockey sessions became a popular activity amongst our section members thereafter.

However, it was at the dinner after the 2021 Hockey Section AGM on 9^th April 2021, that a group of our young sports members (Allan, Greg, Agilan and Brian) finally agreed to organise the home RSC 5-a-side activity. The organising team was then expanded to include Gagan, Harvinder and Taranveer.

Organising team “off-site” discussion 

The initial date for the event was set on 26^th June 2021 with over 40 section members confirming their participation. But alas, this was not to be, as all team sports was called off due to the pandemic until further notice from the government.

We finally received the green light in September to re-start this activity and 16^th October 2021 (Saturday) was the chosen date agreed by the RSC Hockey Section Committee. With this, the organising team immediately contacted all section members to reconfirm their availability for this much anticipated event, including many who had not played with us for a long time.

Due the good response and huge turnout for this activity, we had organized the players in 6 teams as we have limited playing time from 4-7pm only. 

6 mixed teams of equal ability were formed 

Sports Manager, Ganeshan and Jayakanthan ensuring the field is ready

The pitch was in great condition. Thank you to our groundsmen for doing a great job!  

To keep some order and fun during the matches, some interesting rules were drawn up by Harvinder.

Amongst the rules of the game were as follows:

* Every player (including reserves) must play in each match. Rotation is a must, if never complied, yellow card will given to Team Captain and he will be suspended for 2mins at start of next game.

* Strictly NO Hitting.  Any harsh/ deliberate tackle made in the D, a Penalty Stroke will be given

*Team Captain is responsible for the behaviour of his teammates during the entire tournament.

* No foul language should be used at any time during the entire tournament

*This tournament is organised to create Brotherhood and greater bond for the entire hockey section under RSC as well as to close the gaps between the "Veterans" and the "Young Chaps"*

* Finally, anyone uses the sentence that begins with "Last time, Uncle used to…" will be fined 5 JUGS of TIGER Beer

The intention was to keep the atmosphere friendly and social whilst enjoying a nice evening of grass hockey at Kiara Sports Annexe, and we achieved exactly that! 

There were no winners or losers on this day, as everyone has taken home something that money can’t buy – good old sportsmanship and camaderie amongst fellow hockey players.

A big “Thank You!” to the team that helped organize this activity (and who agreed to do it again!), Cikgu Tan Chin Chin for helping out with administrative tasks, the RSC Sports Department for the field arrangements, the RSC F&B department for the dinner arrangements, and all the participants from the RSC Hockey Section for making this a success.

Special note of thanks to Allan Netto for sponsoring the beautiful and creative jerseys to commemorate and remember this day. We will treasure these jerseys for a long time to come!

Finally, our appreciation also to the Cricket Section for finishing up earlier than usual to accommodate our hockey section activity. We are looking forward to our cricket-hockey weekend!

So, for now…. let sit back and the photos do the talking!

The RSC Dogs Teams (missing in action were the Pitbulls!)

 

The mighty Chihuahuas

The Rottweilers

The Huskies

         The Bulldogs

The Poodles      

 

 Hockey boys putting on a show!

A rare “breed” of hockey players, and an even rarer group of hockey stalwarts!

They say Goalies should always stay on their feet!

But sometimes the plan changes… 

Dio and Harvinder showing they can still perform with their skill and speed

The Bobby Ho style – there can only be one!

Everyone is a winner! 

Speeches from Hockey Convenor, Simon See and Sports Chairman, Ranjit Singh 

The theme was suppose to be Hawaiian… guess some didn’t get the memo!

The organising team with Dato R. Yogeswaran and the special awards recipients with Dato Poon

The Chihuahuas with the Dato R.Yogewaran Challenge trophy

The howling Huskies and Bulldogs with the fruits of their labour

Poodles and Pitbulls enjoying their fruity moment 

RSC Hockey Home vs Home Sessions

 With team sports being allowed again for players who completed their vaccination and clearance period of 14 days, we are happy to see the section members back in action…. at the KLHA hockey stadium and also at Kiara Sports Annexe.

We decided to re-start our hockey sessions with home vs home games to slowly get back into the game as we build up our game fitness again.

Some signs of rustiness were obvious due to the long layoff, but with a few more games under our belt, we are confident that we will soon be back to our full potential!

We also happy to see some new faces who have decided to join us again for our regular sessions, and hope to see you all more often from now onwards!

All lined up and eager to start!

Good to be back on the turf and seeing Greg playing hockey again after his knee injury

Saturday grass hockey sessions are back too! Welcome back Mohindar and Gary!

Olympians in the RSC Hockey Section – Part 2

In Part 1 of this article, we had featured the following Olympians:

1.       Wilfred Vias (1956 Melbourne Olympics)

2.       Dato Yogeswaran (1964 Tokyo Olympics, 1968 Mexico Olympics)

3.       Dato Poon Fook Loke (1976 Montreal Olympics, 1984 Los Angeles Olympics)

4.       Dato Ow Soon Kooi (1976 Montreal Olympics, 1984 Los Angeles Olympics)

5.       Mohindar Singh (1976 Montreal Olympics)

These hockey players were already competing at the highest level when many of us were not even born yet!

Watching some of these games on YouTube today, we see how gruelling and tough these games were in the days where sports science was not as advanced as it is today, and many of these Olympians’ sacrifices can be seen today in the form of knee injuries or other forms of physical injuries.

But even so, I am sure they will not exchange the experience of being amongst the best athletes in the world for anything else, as they too will be counted as one of the best in their chosen sport.  

Now, in Part 2 of this article, we feature 5 of the ‘younger’ Olympians in our section.

1.       Tam Chew Seng (1984 Los Angeles Olympics)

2.       Colin Sta Maria (1984 Los Angeles Olympics)

3.       Stephen Van Huizen (1984 Los Angeles Olympics)

4.       Anaantha Sambu (1992 Barcelona Olympics)

5.       Muhammad Dhaarma Raj Kanniah (1992 Barcelona Olympics)

Many of these players are still actively playing today, and can still hold their own on the hockey pitch today, whilst some prefer a more relaxed game of golf – either way, they are still good at swinging the stick/club!

1.       Colin Sta Maria

The 1984 LA Olympics saw 5 of our hockey section members featured in the Malaysian hockey team  - Dato Ow Soon Kooi, Dato Poon Fook Loke, Stephen Van Huizen, Tam Chew Seng and the young Colin Sta Maria!

Colin played in the 1984 LA Olympics as a young 25 year old forward in the Malaysian hockey team and was excited as it was his first trip to the United States of America.

Colin with the liaison officials in 1984 LA Olympics 

“There were so many memorable experiences at the Olympics, but I guess it is being in the presence of all the top sportsmen and women from all over the world that blew me away” said Colin, when asked about how he felt being at the Olympics

The 1984 LA Olympics Malaysian Contingent – Can anyone spot Dato Ow, Dato Poon, Stephen, Tam and Colin?

And it was in Los Angeles that Colin also met the great Edwin Moses – “… the 400m hurdles Olympic and world champion! He was the most outstanding 400m hurdler at the time and revolutionized the 400m hurdling technique”.  (Fact check: With his height of 6'2", Moses' trademark technique was to take a consistent 13 steps between each of the hurdles)

“He was well over 6 feet tall” – Colin described Edwin Moses  

1.      Stephen Van Huizen

Colin was not the only one mingling with the various sporting idols that were present at the 1984 LA Olympics!

Stephen Van Huizen also shared the following “At the 1984 Olympics opening ceremony, we had the opportunity to meet a lot of athletes that we only read about – Edwin Moses, Willie Banks, Juergen Hingsten etc, which was very memorable”

At the opening ceremony with Juergen Hingsten - Germany Decathlon (1984), Gustavo Kueren – Brazil Tennis (2000), Gary Payton – USA Basketball (2000), Willie Banks - USA Long Jump (1984)

Encounters with the sporting elite was not limited to the official functions!

“She was so simple and unassuming, and doing her own laundry” said Stephen, when he surprisingly met Monica Seles, the USA tennis superstar in the laundry room of the block which housed both the Malaysian and USA contingents in 1996.

In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Stephen also had the ultimate privilege to meet and take a photo with the greatest-of-all-time Mohammad Ali when he came to the games village.

“It was a great shock as we never would have dreamt of meeting the legendary Ali close up, after seeing him light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony.”

Williams sisters – Serena and Venus in 2000, and Monica Seles in 1996

And as Chief Coach of the Malaysia Men’s hockey team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he also “coached” the Williams sisters – Serena and Venus, by giving them tips on the collection of pins (including the rare ones) and even gave some pins to them, as they wanted them so badly!

“They were so impressed with the pins on my lanyard around my neck and asked me to exchange pins. I managed to get them to sign a t-shirt and took photos with them too!”

Stephen was also the Assistant Coach in the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Olympics, making it 4 Olympics for him! 

Tam Chew Seng

Emerging from Malacca High, one of the 5 Tam brothers!

Tam Chew Seng played in the 1984 LA Olympics and scored a double against the host nation in the group match. We won the game 4 – 1 vs USA in that game. 

Tam in action, and with Dato Poon after scoring a goal

Known for his quick reflexes for deflections and top-of-D quick snap hits, Tam was also a very hardworking and intelligent player, especially with his ability to press and close down the opponent’s play in their own half. 

Tam (3^rd from the left) with the team waiting for transport back to the Olympic Village

As usual, he played down his involvement in the Olympics and seldom talks of his national hockey and cricket days (yes, he was a double international!).

Today, at 65, he is happy to indulge in golf with friends, putting his natural ability to good use on the fairways instead!

Aanantha Sambu

Sambu is a natural centre forward, who played in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and is still until today, considered to be one of the most skillful players and a deadly striker in the D (provided his knees can hold up!). 

Great time in Barcelona with coach Terry Walsh and the team

“Setting foot in the Olympics itself was a wonderful moment. Not forgetting all the jokes and laughter with my team mates. We were like one big happy family. Great moments indeed!”

Like all the other Olympians before him, many of the best memories of the Olympics were of him meeting the many great athletes at the venue such as Merlene Ottey, Carl Lewis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the American Dream Team. 

Young Sambu with Merlene Ottey and stealing a photo with Carl Lewis

Malaysia ended up in 9th place in the 1992, beating the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) team 4-3 in the 9^th-10^th placing game. Sambu scored in the 68^th minute to seal the win.

Recalling the game - “I still remember the eye signal with Sarjit Singh. Something we learnt from our old hockey. He just pushed the ball to my stick to deflect to Nor Saiful to score. The winning goal was the one that Nor Saiful weaved down the line and push across for me to score. It was joy all around!” 

 Muhammad Dhaarma Raj Abdullah

The youngest of the lot - Dhaarma Raj, took part in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, playing in the heart of the defence at the tender age of 19 under Coach Terry Walsh. But it was not the first time he was in Barcelona, as the team had arranged test matches with Australia and Spain prior to the Olympics to acclimatize to the weather conditions in Spain.

1992 Barcelona Olympics Malaysian Men’s Hockey Team (Photo credit : thevibes.com)

“The Olympic village had an unbelievable atmosphere that leaves a memory that you will not forget. Also, meeting the superstars in the sports world, especially Carl Lewis at the opening ceremony and the USA Basketball Dream team was out of this world”

Dhaarma had to go to the Olympics without his brother, K Embaraj who had injured himself in a freak accident just weeks prior to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Imagine if we had the brothers holding the fort as the last 2 men in defence for Malaysia!  

Team photo with Sambu and Dhaarma before heading for the Opening Ceremony

To all the 10 Hockey Olympians who took the effort to dig out the old photo and generously shared their stories with all of us – THANK YOU! It was indeed enjoyable to ‘listen’ to your journey and experiences as an Olympian. 

The last time the Malaysian hockey team played in the Olympics was the 2000 Sydney Olympics, managed by Dato R.Yogeswaran and Stephen Van Huizen as chief coach.

Dato R.Yogeswaran and Stephen Van Huizen with 2000 Sydney Olympics hockey team

In more recent times, we narrowly missed qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in a nail-biting Asian Games final loss to Japan in extra time played in Jakarta. 

For now, we hope and trust that the new generation of players can again bring us back to glory by qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In the words of Mirnawan Nawawi, current Malaysian hockey team manager and former Malaysian skipper – “You are not a complete player until you play in the Olympics”.