SEPANG: Liaoning Infinite Space, the club from China that have been invited to take part in the Malaysia Women’s Hockey League, have sent out a clear warning to the other teams by saying that they do not intend on finishing their inaugural season here other than being crowned champions.
The China league champions arrived on Tuesday and have chosen to set up base in Cyberjaya, apart from making the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil as their official venue for the 12 league matches that they will play.
Gao Lihua’s squad look like they are all set to put up a strong fight for the coveted league trophy, as they have arrived with an almost full strength squad, led by China international midfield lynchpin Chen Yang who starred in last year’s Women’s Hockey World Cup, as well as China’s former 2016 Olympic squad player Yu Qian.
Apart from the duo, they also have three former internationals in their ranks, Wang Feixue, Guo JiaJia and Wang Libin, apart from a few China youth team players as well.
For Lihua, their team are not competing to be second best, despite the fact that they are missing a couple of key players who are tied up with international commitments, with the Pro League beginning soon.
“Our target for our inaugural season here is to emerge as league and overall champions,” stressed Lihua, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games during the height of her playing career.
“We have brought along a few former internationals but we have no clue as to the level of competition for the Malaysia Women’s Hockey League. What we know is we will give it our all to ensure that we do not end up empty handed.”
Liaoning will be making history as the first invited team to take part in the Malaysia Women’s Hockey League which was revived in 2015, and for their first match, they will take on KL Wipers at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow evening (Friday).
In fact, Liaoning Infinite Space are seen as favourites along with defending champions Blue Warriors and the Terengganu Women’s Hockey Team, who have invested heavily for the new season by bringing in five players from India and Kazakhstan.
Another interesting fact concerning the team from China is that Eric Zacharias is Liaoning Infinite Space’s manager for the coming Malaysia Women’s Hockey League campaign. Eric is a former Malaysia international player who featured for the national side during the Asia Cup in 1990, and he also played in the 1989 World Youth Cup alongside legendary winger Mirnawan Nawawi.
It is understood that the move to invite Liaoning Infinite Space to play in the local league was sparked by a local businessman who will also bear the cost for the China league champions while they are here.