Kuching’s midfielder Luis Maxzecque (right) intercepted by a Sibu defender during their Boys U18 league match at the State Hockey Stadium in Kuching yesterday. The match ended with a 1-1 draw.
KUCHING: Tournament favourites Samarahan stormed into the semi-finals of the Girls U18 competition of the Sarawak Schools Sports Council (MSSS) Hockey Championships after trouncing Kapit 5-0 at the State Hockey Stadium here yesterday.
The defending champions are unbeaten in Group A after edging Sibu 3-2 in the opener and following up with a 9-1 thumping of Mukah to record three wins and collect nine points, banging in a total of 17 goals and conceding only three.
Samarahan will face Group B runners-up Bintulu in today’s first semi-final after the latter finished with six points from two wins and one defeat.
The other semi-final will see last year’s runners-up Kuching taking on Mukah after they topped Group B with nine points from three wins, beating Bintulu 3-0, Betong 10-1 and Miri 2-0.
Mukah collected four points from a win and a draw to finish second in Group A.
In the Boys U18 contest, defending champions Kuching were held to a 1-1 draw by a spirited Sibu side yesterday, thus hurting their chances of retaining their title.
The title will only be decided when they meet Samarahan on the final day on Saturday.
Samarahan are better placed after recording two straight wins, edging Sibu 3-2 on Tuesday and blanking Bintulu 4-0 on Wednesday.
They have six points in the bag when compared to Kuching’s four.
Meanwhile, Kuching have virtually won the Girls U12 title after registering their third win in the five-team competition by defeating defending champions Sibu 1-0 yesterday.
They beat Samarahan and Mukah by similar margins and they will only be looking to keep their unbeaten record intact when they play Bintulu in their final league match tomorrow.
Kuching are set to clinch a double in the U12 category as their boys are also doing very well in the five-team competition.
They opened their campaign with a 3-0 win over Samarahan on Tuesday and the following day, they ran riot over Bintulu with a 7-0 victory.
Kuching are not expected to face any problem in seeing off the challenge from Mukah today and they will face their toughest test on Saturday when they take on defending champions Sibu.