Today, the beautiful Wukesong Arena is rendered with gorgeous Chinese red. At the moment when the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon in China is coming to an end, the festive laughter and laughter once again burst out in the women's ice arena of the Winter Olympic Games!
The Chinese women's ice hockey team defeated the Japanese women's ice team, the top seed of the same group, 2-1 on penalties in the third game of the group. With undisputed toughness, the girls subdued their arch-rivals in Asia. In three days to grab two consecutive wins, the Chinese women's ice has taken the initiative in the battle for the top eight seats.
Taking the lead in conceding the ball, struggling to equalize, fighting hard in extra time, winning with penalties, the Chinese women's ice team played all the drama in such a meaningful game! With both the overwhelming impact and the calm and delicate control, the Chinese women's ice team, which has no experience in the Winter Olympic Games, actively and experienced technical tactics and the belief in victory, makes victory possible step by step.
This thrilling battle, it's a contest of ambition and strength.
In the 1990s, when women's ice hockey quietly took the world stage, China and Japan took advantage of the momentum and formed their own national teams. The first official international match of the Chinese women's ice team took place on New Year's Day in 1991, when they beat the Japanese team 10-0.
Since then, the Chinese women's ice team has been in the position of Asian hegemony. In 1998, women's ice hockey officially became a winter Olympic sport. In the round robin, the Chinese team easily defeated the host Japan 6-1 to reach the final four of the tournament. The match was also the only meeting between China and Japan in the last six Winter Olympics.
In the past decade, the development of Chinese women's ice hockey has entered a bottleneck period, and after the Vancouver Winter Olympics, it has gradually withdrawn from the ranks of the world's strongest teams, ranking outside the world's top 15. The Japanese team has found a stable way to improve the level of the national team, and has maintained an excellent record after reaching the top group of the World Championships in 2015.
They beat a number of European powerhouses at last year's World Championships to finish sixth in all-time best. In the Asian arena, the perennially dominant Chinese women's ice team will also change the position of president, and in 2017, the Japanese team took the gold medal of the Asian Winter Games from the hands of Chinese women's ice for the first time.
Challenging the world's strong players and reshaping the glorious moments belonging to China's women's ice is the belief of the host soldiers of this Winter Olympic Games. Since Kunlun Hongxing Club formed the women's ice team five years ago, with the full support of the multi-level sports authorities in Guangdong, Shenzhen and Longgang and Vanke Group, the official partner of the Chinese national ice hockey team, and under the direct leadership of the Winter Sports Management Center of the State General Administration of Sport and the China International Cultural Communication Center, they have cut through thorns in the professional arena, competed for gold and silver, and let ice hockey take root in the southern end of China.
After more than four months of actual combat tempering, the Kunlun Hongxing Women's Ice Team, which undertook the heavy responsibility of national team training, handed over wonderful answers at the Winter Olympic Games. The consecutive defeat of two of the world's top 10 teams shows the club's tireless efforts to restore the glory of Chinese women's ice, and now has an exciting success.
Remember the journey of the original heart, the road ahead is still far away. In the cheers of the national fans, the Chinese female ice girl who wins confidence and morale will make the bright Chinese red more courageous in the Olympic arena.