In the women's ice hockey group stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 6, facing the group's strongest opponent and the world's sixth-ranked Asian neighbor Japan, the Chinese women's ice hockey team completed the penalty shootout and won two consecutive victories!
Although it is also the fourth time to qualify for the Main Winter Olympics, compared with the World No. 20 Chinese team, the paper strength of Japanese women's ice has absolutely prevailed.
In recent years, with the gradual improvement of the local semi-professional league and university league system, the competitive performance of the Japanese team has steadily improved, winning the sixth place in the top group competitions of the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2021 World Championships, and directly entering the Beijing Winter Olympics with the sixth place in the world ranking, becoming the first team in the history of Asian ice hockey to directly advance to the main event of the Winter Olympics without passing the qualifiers. The last time Chinese women's ice beat Japan in an international competition was in the Vancouver Winter Olympics qualifiers at the end of 2008.
In the first two rounds of the group stage of the Winter Olympics, Japan defeated Sweden 3-1 and then defeated Denmark 6-2, showing good form. However, the performance of the Chinese team is also eye-catching, although the record is 1 win and 1 loss, but the scene against the European powerhouse Czech team is not left behind, and the second battle "kill" Danish team is even more morale-boosting.
In this game, in the face of a strong enemy, the Chinese team started to play against the opponent. With less than 2 minutes left in the first quarter, the Japanese team took the lead and was scored by Akane Hosoyama. In the second section, neither side gained anything. Just 1 minute and 06 seconds into the third quarter, China's Rebecca's shot was blocked by the Japanese goalkeeper, and striker Hu Baozhen scored in front of the goal. Regular time ended and the two sides drew 1.
In extra time, the competition between the two sides became more intense, but they still failed to form a goal, and the game entered a penalty shootout. In the first three rounds, all six players failed to score the ball. In the fourth round, the penalty of Japanese player Qin Liuke was blocked by Zhou Jiaying, while Chinese player Miller scored the ball.
With Yaya, who made the first appearance in the fifth round, lost his hand, the Chinese team locked up the victory 2-1 and took the lead in the group stage with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss. On February 7, the Chinese women's ice team will play against Sweden, and as long as the Chinese team does not lose in the regular time, it can lock in the right to qualify for the group and advance to the top 8.
"The last time I won against Japan, I can't remember when." After the game, the 33-year-old veteran Bai Wei, the captain of the Chinese team, once cried silently, saying bluntly that the victory was of great significance, "The Japanese team is the most difficult to play in the group, but we especially want to win this game." We want to stand on the field of the Beijing Winter Olympics with a new look and let the world see that we are the Chinese women's ice skaters in the new era, and we can do better. ”
Yu Baiwei believes that the whole team showed tenacious willpower in this battle, "everyone fought to the end, every minute and every second did not relax, everyone did their duty and kept their positions." Coach Idarski said that the players perfectly executed the established tactics, "Although the opponent is very strong, I know that if we limit the speed of the Japanese team, we have a chance." It turns out the players did. ”
In another women's ice group game that night, Switzerland lost to the United States by a large margin of 0-8.
Photo courtesy of The Winter Olympics reporter Fang Fei of Xinhua News Agency
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Source Client The Winter Olympics | Reporter Wang smiled
Edited by Kang Dian
Process Editor Wu Yue