This afternoon, the women's ice hockey group stage of the Winter Olympics will usher in a key battle of the Chinese team against the Japanese team. If it can win, the Chinese team will definitely ensure that the group qualifies and enters the quarterfinals.
A few years ago, against the Japanese team, the Chinese team did not have any chances.
The most direct proof is the Asian Winter Games in 2017, when the two teams met in the final, and the result was that the Chinese team lost 1-6. The Japanese team won the championship for the first time at the Asian Winter Games.
The 1-6 is not due to the chinese team's abnormal play, but due to its strength. At that time, the Japanese team was relegated from the top group of the World Championships, and then won the first place in the A group of the World Championships, and was re-promoted to the level of the top group. The Chinese team is at the fourth and fifth level of The World Championships Division A Group B.
People who have watched ice hockey know that this World Championship top group, First Division A and Group B are not similar concepts to the Premier League Championship And The FA Cup can still be upset from time to time. Ice hockey is one level behind, once encountered, it is basically a situation of being suppressed by the other side and playing a big score.
It's 2022 and Japan has secured its top spot, finishing sixth at last year's World Championships. Because of the epidemic situation, the World Championship Class B Group B of the World Championship where the Chinese team is located was suspended for two years, and the Chinese team is still stuck in the fourth place in 19 years.
Two levels apart, no fight at all? Miss by a mile! After a large number of naturalizations in the United States and Canada, the Chinese team has completely changed its appearance!
At this World Championship, the first match of the Chinese team's international competition met the Czech Republic, which ranked eighth in the top group last year, and after a small loss of 1-3, it gave people the impression that the Chinese team could play a game. In the second game, under the premise of twice as many shots as the opponent, the Chinese team defeated the Denmark team, which was the tenth place in the top group last year, 3-1!
This new version of the Chinese team, before the Winter Olympics has not played with other national teams, and other national teams are mature teams that have been running on the traditional track for many years, and they are all top group standards, and the tension of the Chinese team can be imagined.
But it is clear that the current level of the Chinese team, at the very least, can compete with the top group behind the team.
Since it has now been proved that it is completely capable of fighting, it is painful to fight to the end. 1-6 this score is unlikely to appear again, if we can win the world's sixth-place Japanese team, this naturalized Chinese team, there is no doubt worthy of the title of the world's most powerful team!