Beijing time on February 6 news, Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics ice hockey project in Wukesong Sports Center continued, the Chinese women's ice hockey team will face the Asian neighbor Japan team, once upon a time, the overall strength of the Chinese team is obviously above the opponent, occupying an overwhelming advantage, but in recent years in front of the Japanese team can not take any advantage, the 2017 Asian Winter Games has lost 1-6. In the Winter Olympic season, the overall strength of the Chinese women's ice team has been improved through foreign training, and this home battle is expected to break the wrist with Japan, and if it wins, it will occupy the initiative in the group qualification battle.
The Chinese women's ice hockey team was once a strong team in the world, in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, the Chinese women's ice skaters who stood on the stage of the Winter Olympics for the first time were not afraid of strong enemies, dared to play, and won the fourth place in the first competition, which is also the best result achieved by the Chinese women's ice in the Winter Olympic Games so far. During this time, Chinese women's ice has no opponents in Asia, whether it is the Asian Winter Games or the Asian Championships, it is basically a crushing victory, which can be said to be the only one in Asia.
At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Chinese women's ice skaters competed twice, but failed to reach the final four, both ending in seventh place. Because of the scarcity of talents and the lack of strength of the younger generations, Chinese female ice can only rely on the bitter support of veterans, the pace of progress is slow, and the advantages in Asia are slowly being swallowed up, at this time, the female ice teams of Japan, Kazakhstan and other countries began to rise.
In the 2014 Sochi and 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Chinese women's ice hockey team was absent consecutively, and at the World Championships, the Chinese team also failed to advance to the top group for a long time, generally competing in the first division B group, while the Asian Japanese team greatly surpassed the Chinese women's ice team in both ranking and performance, and had the capital to compete with european and American teams.
At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the Chinese women's ice hockey team participated as the host, and the female ice girls were holding their breath, hoping to prove their strength at their doorstep. In the group stage, the Chinese women's ice debut faced the world's seventh-ranked Czech team and tried their best, but both the offensive and defensive ends exposed a certain gap, and the result was 1-3.
The second battle of the Danish women's ice, the Chinese team started unfavorably, the first to lose the ball, passively, although the girls were slightly impatient, but did not give up, patiently looking for opportunities in the two sides, Lin Qiqi helped the team equalize, in the last minute of the game, the Chinese women's ice set off a wave of goals and small climax, Lin Qiqi and Lin Ni Jiangong, and finally the Chinese women's ice defeated the Danish team with a 3-1 reversal and won the first victory. This victory also allowed the girls to regain confidence, which was conducive to the next game.
As captain Yu Baiwei said, after 12 years of waiting, he still insisted on sticking to the ice rink, only because of his inner persistence. Yu Baiwei said that he has not left this team, because he always believes that Chinese women's ice can do better, and hopes to follow this team to return to the best period of Chinese women's ice hockey and return to the level of the top group.
The third opponent in the Chinese women's ice group stage is Japan, which has participated in three consecutive Winter Olympics since Sochi in 2014 and finished fourth at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Japanese women's ice skating has distinct characteristics, they are full of physical fitness, fast skating speed, strong ball control ability, is a typical technical team.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, for the first time, Japanese women's ice skaters did not need to participate in the qualifiers and directly advanced to the main competition. In the first match, the Japanese women's ice team defeated Sweden 3-1, and the second game defeated Denmark, and is currently in good shape. In the Japanese squad, captain Masaho Osawa is the elder of the Three Dynasties of the Winter Olympics, and defender Akane Hosoyamada once played for the CWHL Calgary Flames, and the two are the core of both offensive and defensive ends.
The last meeting between China and Japan was at the 2017 Asian Winter Games, when the Chinese team lost 1-6. However, with the Winter Olympics into the Beijing cycle, the Chinese women's ice to increase the intensity of foreign training, this group of squads in the Winter Olympic season participated in the Russian Women's Ice League, got training, the overall strength has been significantly improved, with the strength of the Japanese team, this game, the Chinese women's ice attaches great importance to, hope to win japan after many years, in the group qualification battle to seize the opportunity. (Lin Nan)