KILAT CLUB won the first-ever double in the Malaysia Hockey League by clinching both the league and overall titles in the 1991-1992 season. And I am proud to be part of the team who instilled this fear to the opponents via many talented and experienced players. And the players possessed strong characters, as well.
To make it more memorable, Kilat Club also swept the Fair Play Trophy. It was not an easy task to win a double as there was nothing much to separate the teams in terms of standard. Matches were always close and unpredictable as any team could be beaten to make matches interesting.
And it was always a full house at Tun Razak Stadium when the knockout stages began for the chase of the overall title. The atmosphere was terrific as fans supported their respective teams. It was always like a massive weekend hockey carnival.
No team had achieved the double since the league was inaugurated in 1987 until the Kilat Club's feat. Among the teams who participated were Maybank, Public Bank, United Asian Bank (UAB), United Malayan Banking Corporation (UMBC), Bank Bumiputra, Perwira Habib Bank (PHB), Royal Malay Regiment (RMR), Klang Municipality, Seremban Municipality, Perak SEDC, DeTas and Kilat Club of course.
Kilat Club (now known as Tenaga Nasional Berhad or TNB) had earlier won the overall title in 1987 and 1989.
The Kilat Club squad of 1991-1992 comprised M. Nadarajan, Manjit Singh, Mohamad Sayuti Samad, Abdul Halim Baharom, K. Dharmaraj, K.Embaraj, Effendy Ahmad, S. Sivabalan, R. Chandrasegran, Edwin Lambert, Ibrahim Salleh, Tarvinder Singh, M. Surentheran, Ranjit Singh, Jasbere Singh, Bahari Borhan, Ramanan, Lam Mun Fatt, Manaf Othman and myself. The coach was Sulaiman Saibot with Ajit Singh as his assistant.
After winning the league title, Kilat met no-nonsense and formidable RMR side in the final in the 1991-1992 season. It was packed at Tun Razak Stadium on a Saturday, Feb 29 in 1992, incidentally a leap year. Kilat, playing without injured defender and penalty corner hitter Embaraj, won 4-1 for that elusive double.
It was not easy as RMR had the services of solid defensive defenders in former National Junior in Gurmit Singh and Zulmadi Ariffin. They also had Fadzli Hussin, Nasir Maidin and Mohamad Noor Hussin in the attack.
Earlier in the league, Kilat Club faced some tough challengers from teams like RMR, Maybank, Perak SEDC and Pahang's DeTas. DeTas had the services of Soviet Union star Berikkazy Seksenbayev. He was the first foreign import in the league's history. The Kazakhstan attacker played at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics under
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) flag.
So it was a huge celebration for Kilat later in the evening. Players and team officials had been working hard for this double success. It was historic and I was over the moon, naturally. We were like a big family then -- off and on the pitch. Thus the team spirit was surely high, every minute of it.
Forward and former national captain Surentheran, whom we called "Babu", was the oldest in the squad at 36.
Surenthiran is the younger brother of former national coach M.Mahendran, who also played in the 1975 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Then there was former Paris 1979 Junior World Cup forward Ibrahim Salleh or "Botak". Also in the squad was prolific central forward Ranjit Singh or simply known as "Tut tut".
Mirnawan scores as RMR goalkeeper Majid Dahlan looks on. Pic courtesy of Mirnawan Nawawi
We even stayed at Grand Pacific Hotel in Jalan Ipoh during the whole duration of the season to focus on our challenges in the Malaysia Hockey League. Our daily training sessions were at Kilat Ground in Bangsar and Tun Razak Stadium.
Grand Pacific Hotel was like a second home for me and many others. This was where the national team players stayed during centralised training. those days. The office of Malaysian Hockey Federation (now Malaysian Hockey Confederation) was also situated at this hotel.
Players even had this permanent place to have breakfast and tea time -- situated just outside the hotel.
We called it Maniam Stall and we had that privilege of opening a "Buku 555", where we could have credit to be settled later, with the owner. But at times, Maniam did chase some of the players for what was due to him!
My first taste of Malaysia Hockey League was in 1988 when I was with the National Juniors, who were preparing for the Junior World Cup in Ipoh the following year. This National Juniors was first formed in 1986 where open trials which were divided into three zones -- north, central and south. Those shortlisted were later invited for final trials in Kuala Lumpur.
Unfortunately, I did not make the cut for the final trials. It was not easy as I was only 15 while the rest most of them were 18. For the record, the Junior World Cup caters for those Under-21s. However, I earned a recall after playing in the Champions Schools tournament for Royal Military College in Kuala Lumpur. I got excited
as I had another break to play in the Junior World Cup.
Again it was difficult as the others had been preparing earlier, including a playing tour of Europe and involved in tournaments. But again, I didn’t give up for a place in the final squad for the Ipoh big tournament. I was picked for the team to play in the Malaysia Hockey League. Among the forwards then Ariffin Ghani, Nor Azmi Abu Samah, Rafidi Idris, Atul Kumar, Azahari Amir Ali and Jeremy Gregory. The captain was Charles David.
It was stage fright for me to make my debut in the Malaysia Hockey League as it was a senior-level competition. There were so many good players including current and former internationals. I managed to cope with the new challenges, though. The National Juniors, under coach Yang Siow Ming, finished third overall.
I made the final squad for the Junior World Cup in Ipoh.
The next season of the Malaysia Hockey League, I played for BSN, after receiving an offer from them. Also playing in this bank outfit that season were Juniors Azahari and Hamdan Hamzah, a goalkeeper.
In the 1990 season, I moved to Kilat Club after receiving an offer. I quickly grabbed the chance as this club was already established as one of the best in the country. It was there I played alongside former national captain in Sarjit Singh and Foo Keat Seong also known as "Uncle Foo".
Kilat Club won the league that season and runners-up in the chase for the overall title. Sarjit and Keat Seong were not in the team for that memorable double. What an experience to be playing with Kilat. It was electrifying, indeed.
