True champs: Jang Jong-hyun (bottom) celebrating with teammates after scoring the winner against Tenaga Nasional during the Malaysian Hockey League match in Kuala Terengganu.
PETALING JAYA: Jang Jong-hyun proved yet again why he is the most valuable player for Terengganu as the South Korean international scored a double to help his side defend their Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) title beating rivals Tenaga Nasional 3-2 in Kuala Terengganu.
Tenaga, needing a win to secure the title for the first time in 20 years, did everything right and took the lead twice but Jong-hyun turned the tide in Terengganu’s favour in the fourth quarter through his well taken penalty corner conversions.
In-form striker Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal gave Tenaga the lead through a field goal in the 30th minute but Terengganu, cheered by the crowd at the Batu Buruk Stadium, equalised through Abdul Khaliq Hamirin (field goal) five minutes later.
Aminuddin Zain converted a 42nd minute penalty corner to revive Tenaga’s hopes but Jong-hyun delivered the killer blows by converting the penalty corners in the 47th minute and in the final minute (60th) to keep the league title in Terengganu’s grasp.
The looming danger of Jong-hyun often preached by Tenaga coach Norsaiful Zaini became a reality again as Terengganu remained unbeaten to win the league for the fifth time.
Terengganu captain Fitri Saari said his team did not give up despite trailing twice in the game to outwit Tenaga.
“Never surrender has been our slogan and our players lived up to it today (yesterday). Sometimes when opponents take the lead, we usually get demoralised but not this time,” said Fitri.
“Every time Tenaga took the lead, we fought back and finally we managed to beat them 3-2.
“Jong-hyun has the experience in this kind of situations and he delivered for us when it was crucial.
“Overall though, our penalty corner conversions were not up to the mark. We had 13 chances but only scored two and that’s a concern.”
Norsaiful had to accept defeat again as he felt that Terengganu were far superior while his players lacked big match temperament.
“We were very defensive and made too many mistakes. If you give away 13 penalty corners, there is no problem for Jang to score two,” said a frustrated Norsaiful.
“Many players do not have big match temperament and this hurt us today (yesterday).
“If you want to win this game, you must have the experience of winning at the big stage and we lacked that a bit.
“Our players were also tired as they had been travelling quite a bit over the last one week but we have to accept it and move on.
“There is the TNB Cup title to defend and we will be focusing on that after this.”
Terengganu had also won the Charity Shield last month by beating Tenaga 4-3 and they will now be gunning for a hattrick by targeting the TNB Cup which begins on Tuesday.
In the TNB Cup semi-finals, Terengganu will play UiTM while Tenaga will meet Maybank in the first leg in Bukit Jalil.
