Diwali gathering with family members.

KUALA LUMPUR: A short stint in Holland has given Jivan Mohan the extra motivation to steer Sapura to glory in Division One of the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL).
The 25-year-old national midfielder spent 1½ months with the Hilversum Mix Hockey Club in Amsterdam prior to start of the MHL earlier this month.
“It was a great experience to play in Holland. Their league is very competitive and the games are very physical. I learnt a lot and it has motivated me to raise the standard of my game,” said Jivan.
Festive mood: Jivan Mohan (centre front row) enjoying an early Deepavali celebration with friends and relatives at his uncle M. Ramachandran’s house in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, on Friday. — ASRI ABDUL GHANI/The Star
“My goal is to help my club (Sapura) win one of the titles at stake this season.”
Sapura’s best achievement in the MHL was in 2005 when they were crowned League and overall champions. They were also League winners in 2004 and overall champions in 2006.
“Ernst and Young and Tenaga Nasional may be the more fancied teams but, hopefully, we can give them a good fight this time around,” he said.
The other teams in Division One are Maybank, National Juniors and Nur Insafi.
Sapura have played two matches so far, beating Maybank 2-1 in their opening match before losing to Ernst and Young 1-2.
Jivan is one of the two national players in Sapura’s side, the other being G. Sasitheran.
The team also have a good mix of former internationals in S. Kuhan, Maninderjit Singh, K. Keevan Raj, K. Logan Raj and goalkeeper Mohd Nashihin Nubli.
Jivan is also looking beyond the MHL in a bid to come out of the shadows of his more illustrious elder brother Jiwa, who quit the national team early this year after serving the country for more than a decade.
“My brother has competed in the Olympics and World Cup. I have not. It will be an important year for Malaysia next year and my goal is to help Malaysia qualify for the World Cup,” said Jivan, who recently graduated from the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) with a degree in Human Resource Development.
The national team were severely criticised after failing to qualify for the last World Cup and Jivan does want to see a repeat of that.
Jivan is now back with his family in Penang for the Deepavali celebrations and is hoping to make up for lost time with his loved ones.
“I have been with the national team for seven years and this has been possible because my family has been very supportive,” he added.
The MHL will resume after a one-week break for Deepavali and Sapura’s next match will be against Tenaga Nasional on Friday.