KUCHING: Kuching booked their place in the Boys U18 semi-finals of the Sarawak Schools Sports Council (MSSS) Hockey Championship at Sarawak Astroturf Hockey Stadium yesterday after topping Group A with six points from two matches won.
They had kicked off their campaign in winning style by hammering Betong 4-0 on Monday and in an afternoon match yesterday, the defending champions blanked Miri 4-0.
Kuching will face Bintulu in the last four after the latter ended up in second spot in Group B with six points.
The other semi-final will be played between Group B leaders Sibu who collected seven points from two wins and one draw, and the winner of the penalty shoot out between Betong and Miri after both teams ended their group matches with zero point after recording an 0-0 draw and 0-4 loss.
Samarahan are looking good in the Girls U18 competition after winning all their three matches in Group B, having beaten Bintulu 2-0, Miri 3-0 and hammered Miri 13-0, which was the biggest scoreline in the championship so far.
The defending champions will meet Group B runners-up Kapit in the cross-over semi-finals today for a place in the finals.
Barring any upset in the other semi-final against Group A runners-up Bintulu, Kuching are likely to meet Samarahan in tomorrow’s final for a grudge match.
Samarahan and Kuching were last year’s finalists.
Meanwhile, in the U12 competition, hosts Kuching have also advanced to the boys semi-finals after collecting six points from wins over Bintulu and Mukah in Group A.
The defending champions’ opponents in the last four are last year’s finalists Sibu who finished second in Group B on three points.
The other semi-final will be fought between Group B leaders Samarahan and Bintulu.
Kuching have already won the Girls U12 title after topping the league standings with 10 points from three wins and one draw.
They beat Samarahan 4-0, Mukah 1-0, Bintulu 2-0 and drew 1-1 with Sibu.
Even though if Sibu beats Mukah in their final league match today to also collect 10 points, they will lose out to Kuching on goals difference.
The fight is on for the third spot and Samarahan faces an uphill battle to beat Bintulu today.
After three games, Bintulu have three points in hand after beating Mukah 4-0 but lost 0-1 to Sibu and 0-2 to Kuching.
A total of 446 players and 104 officials are taking part in the annual state championship that ends on Saturday.
Participating teams are Kuching, Samarahan, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu, Kapit, Mukah, Bintulu and Miri.