Liaoning Hockey Team found the form to register a 4-1 victory over Matador Hockey Club in the TNB-Malaysian Hockey League 2025 (TNBMHL) at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Thursday (January 23).
The Chinese took a 1-0 lead in the second quarter through Zhang Zhongqiang’s penalty corner conversion (19th) before Rana Muhammad Waleed restored parity for Matador via a field goal in the 27th minute. The score stood at 1-1 at the interval.
Matador, saddled with three of their key players not able to play against Liaoning due to fever and flu while midfielder Adeel Latif served a one-match suspension, found the going tough although the Green Shirts’ forwards made several inroads to score.
They should have closed the game out with full points but instead found themselves back paddling in the third and fourth quarters due to a sudden breakdown in the defence mechanism and structure that resulted in goals flowing for the Chinese through Wang Tao (46th), Zhao Yulai (52nd) and Lin Jie (56th).
The win was Liaoning’s first in the tournament after going down to Maybank (1-2) followed by defeats against Tenaga Nasional Berhad (0-5), Nurinsafi Sporting (1-2), and suffered a 3-8 defeat against Terengganu Hockey Team on January 20 at the Batu Buruk Hockey Stadium in Kuala Terengganu.
For Matador, who rolled out a convincing 8-3 victory over Nurinsafi in their first match on January 15, their journey in the tournament has since been weighed down by injuries, suspensions, and ill health to several players.
In Bertam, Nurinsafi triumphed 3-2 over Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) for their second win in six matches in the league.
Indian national Japjit Singh (34th), Putra Ahmad Syahmie (44th) and Nur Rahull Hrsikesa(52nd) scored for Nurinsafi while UiTM replied through Perabu Tangaraja (10th) and Muhammad Husaini’s (38th) penalty corner conversions.
THT maintained top spot in the standings with 18 points, followed by Maybank (12), TNB (9), UiTM in fourth spot (6), TNB Thunderbolts in fifth spot (6 pts), Nurinsafi moved up to sixth spot (6 pts) while Matador is in seventh spot (3) followed by Liaoning in eighth spot (3), and Armed Forces in ninth spot (3).
Australia’s Northern Territory Stingers will start their adventure in the MHL on February 5 against TNB Thunderbolts.
The MHL action continues on Sunday (January 26) with matches between Matador and TNB Thunderbolts (4pm), and TNB versus UiTM HC (6pm). Both matches are at the NHS in Bukit Jalil.
The TNBMHL will take a short break from January 27 to February 3. It will resume on February 4 with matches between Armed Forces and Matador, while Nurinsafi will host TNB at Bertam.
