Muscat: Al Nasr and Sohar clubs confirmed their attendance in the semifinals of the 51st edition of His Majesty’s Cup Hockey Championship. Dhofar representative, Al Nasr, possess ten points ahead of the concluding round against Saham on Wednesday while Sohar have nine points and they will face Seeb on Wednesday.
Three fixtures will take place on Wednesday at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex. Al Nasr will meet Saham at 4:00 pm while defending champion Ahli Sidab, will take on Salalah. The match will kick off at 6:00 pm. In the last encounter, Seeb will clash against Sohar and the match will start at 8:00 pm.
The qualified teams to the final rounds including Salalah, Al Nasr, Seeb, Saham, Ahli Sidab and Sohar showed top performance as every team is looking to secure spot in the semifinals.
Al Nasr is leading the table as they have ten points from three triumphs and one draw. Sohar is placed as runner up and they have nine points from three victories and suffered one defeat. Ahli Sidab and Seeb are positioned in third and fourth places respectively. Both team have fife points with goal difference for Ahli Sidab. Saham in fifth place with two points while Salalah in last position with nil points.
Title holders Sidab and Seeb are the closest teams to advance with Al Nasr and Sohar to the next round. Saham will need to register victory and wait for Sidab-Salalah’s fixture. The topper of the group will meet third-placed team while the runner up will take on the fourth-positioned club. The semifinal matches will be played on Friday. The third and fourth place playoff will be scheduled on Sunday. The final match is to be held in the first week of January.
Oman Hockey Association (OHA) set up many umpiring courses and workshops to ensure proper referring level in the top domestic hockey event.
“There is appreciation on umpires level till now in His Majesty’s Cup Hockey Championship. We are having daily meetings and discussions with umpires and referees to review all the decisions and how to improve. I believe this assists the local referees to improve in their performance and learn from their minor mistakes,” Eng. Thani Saheem al Wahaibi, board member at OHA and head of umpiring committee said.
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