Kuala Lumpur :

India’s former penalty corner specialist Len Aiyappa is in town to help the Project 2013 squad players improve on their penalty corner drag flicks.

The 34-year-old Len, of Bangalore, was one of the top penalty corner drag flickers in the world during his playing days from 1999 to 2005.

Len also trained the Spain National Under-21 drag flickers in 2010 and was also attached to Italian clubs for four years from 2007.

The defender, who plays for Air India in the Indian League, was also the top scorer in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) for three consecutive years in 2003, 2004 and 2005 – and for three different clubs (Ernst & Young, Bank Simpanan Nasional and Telekom respectively).

He was the last foreign player to win the MHL top scorer’s award in 2006.

Len, who arrived here on Wednesday, said that he was more than happy to help the Project squad drag flickers prepare for the Junior World Cup in Chandigarh, India, in December.

“Penalty corners are crucial during matches … a good drag flicker can help his team win matches. I am here to help fine-tune their flicks so that they are accurate and powerful,” said Len, who will be here for 12 days.

The five drag flickers in the Project squad are Mohd Shahril Saabah, Mohd Nor Aqmal Abdul Ghaffar, G. Kavin Kartik, Mohd Zulhairi Hashim and Mohd Aminudin Mohd Zain.

Len said he would return to KL “another four of five times” to train the Project squad drag flickers.

“My aim is to produce a good drag flicker for Malaysia for the Junior World Cup in December,” said Len.

Project squad coach K. Dharmaraj believes that Len is the perfect choice to guide and turn his youngsters into deadly penalty corner flickers.

source: http://www.thestar.com.my / The Star Online, Malaysia / Home> Sports / Friday, May 17th, 2013