KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian University's (MU) top scorer Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli could miss tomorrow's (March 9) Vivian May Soars Cup final against China's Liaoning at the National Hockey Stadium.
The national forward, who has scored 11 goals in 10 matches in the Malaysian women's league, is nursing a knee injury sustained against Liaoning on Feb 25.
MU qualified for the final with an 8-2 aggregate win over defending champions Negri Sembilan while Liaoning advanced 3-0 on aggregate against PDRM Blue Warriors.
MU, who are gunning for a treble, have qualified for the final five times, and won three in a row from 2020 to 2022. But last year they lost the final to Negri Sembilan after a penalty shootout (3-2).
MU coach Lailin Abu Hasan said Nuramirah is their key striker. "Without her, our strikeforce will be affected. She will go for a medical test, and we will know whether she can play in the final.
"We will face a torrid time against the Chinese team who are well disciplined and fight for every ball.
"We beat them 1-0 to win the league title but the challenge will be on us to beat them again. Playing the final is a different ball game." said Lailin.
Liaoning's South Korean consultant, Kim Sang Ryul, said he is not happy with his team's performance after they finished second in the 10-team women's league.
"My players are not smart enough in playing matches and they are poor in decision-making
"We need to buck up and I expect to the team play much better in the final. Our target is to win a title."
In attack, Liaoning will bank on Wang Lihang who is their top scorer with 17 goals in 11 matches.
Nuramirah and Nur Afiqah Syahzani Azhar of QNET Phoenix are joint-second with 11 goals.
Liaoning made their debut in the Malaysia Hockey League in 2019 and won the Vivian May Soars Cup.