KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian University women’s hockey head coach, Lailin Abu Hassan, advocates for the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) to attract more foreign teams to participate in the Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) in the upcoming season, especially in the women’s category.
This year, the MHL competition saw intensified competition with the presence of Chinese club, Liaoning Hockey Club.
They emerged victorious in the Vivian May Soars Cup, defeating Malaysian University 3-0 in a penalty shootout in the final on Saturday (March 9), following a 1-1 tie after 60 minutes of play.
Despite Lailin’s team failing to clinch a treble this year, the 55-year-old coach remains positive about the presence of the Chinese club, which provided a more intense challenge than in the previous season.
Liaoning’s participation in the MHL is not new, having also competed in 2019.
In this edition, they were coached by Ren Ye, a former Chinese player who helped the country win the silver medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The team was also strengthened by Li Jia Qi and Wang Na, who previously competed in the Rio 2016 edition of the Olympics.
Encouraged by Laioning’s participation, Lailin suggested extending the current open-door policy held by MHC to hockey clubs from neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Singapore, or Indonesia.
“Opening the door to foreign teams is a good move. When we attract teams like Liaoning to our league, it allows local players to understand the standard of foreign players, which helps them prepare better.
“This depends on the MHC Competitions Committee and how they plan the league for next season.
“For me, this is also one way to increase the value of our league,” Lailin told Scoop.
Lailin added that the initiative not only has the potential to elevate the quality of the national hockey league but in the long run, it could establish the women’s MHL as a destination for world-renowned players to compete, similar to the men’s competition.
Renowned Irish goalkeeper David Harte played for UniKL for two seasons, while Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) was fortunate to have Olympic gold medalist, Gonzalo Peillat from Argentina, don their jersey in 2018. – March 11, 2024
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