On the evening of the 12th Beijing time, the women's ice hockey world championship continued in the Polish city of Katowice. The Chinese team defeated the Asian powerhouse Kazakhstan 6-2, winning four consecutive victories while firmly grasping the initiative of promotion in its own hands.
A total of six teams participated in the tournament, using a single round robin format, and the first-place team will be promoted to Group A. The Chinese team, currently ranked 17th in the world, has won three consecutive victories before this campaign, temporarily ranking first in the standings.
In the fourth round, China's opponent is Kazakhstan, the lowest ranked team in the world, and has only achieved 1 win and 2 losses before. The latter has just completed the replacement of the old and new in the Beijing Winter Olympic cycle, and although the personnel are relatively young, there are several Canadian naturalized players in the squad, who have beaten the Chinese team in the 2018 and 2019 World Championships.
In the match on the evening of the 12th Beijing time, the two sides began a fierce confrontation at the beginning. In contrast, the opponent's attack is more proactive, and the Chinese team is based on defensive counterattack. With 2 minutes and 26 seconds, the all-out Kazakh team scored first. The trailing Chinese team played steadily, equalizing by Lin Qiqi at 5:11. At 12 minutes and 34 seconds, Hu Baozhen, who won the best player in the last game, hit the ball into a dead corner and helped the team to rebound. Although the opponent immediately changed the goalkeeper, it failed to prevent the Chinese team from continuing to expand the score advantage. At 16 minutes and 01 seconds, the Chinese team played a wonderful match in the counterattack, rebecca received Lin Qiqi's wonderful pass and scored the ball. China ended the first quarter with a 3-1 lead, with 12 effective shots on goal from both sides.
In the second quarter, the Chinese team's effective shot number was 19-6, which was absolutely dominant, but the single quarter score was 1 draw. In the quarter of 16 minutes and 15 seconds, Kazakhstan scored in one more hit and less, closing the point difference to only one point. After conceding the goal, the Chinese team stepped up the attack, and at 18 minutes and 36 seconds, Kang Mulan seized the opportunity of the opponent's substitution mistake and changed the score to 4-2 with a single stroke.
In the third quarter of 6 minutes and 01 seconds, Zhang Xifang was another city for the Chinese team. With 48 seconds left in the game, Lin Qiqi scored twice to lock in the score at 6-2. The Chinese team topped the table with 12 points, and defender Fei Anna was selected as the best player of the game.
In the early morning of Beijing time on the 15th, the Chinese team will face the host Polish team in the final round of competition. The latter is ranked 20th in the world, and has previously won fewer and lost more games with the Chinese team, but the Chinese team was losing to the opponent by one point at the 2019 World Championships. In the first four rounds of this World Championship, Poland also won four consecutive victories, but won the extra time in the early morning of Beijing time on the 13th, so it currently has 11 points and is temporarily in the second place. In the final round, the Chinese team only needs to defeat the Polish team to win the championship and promote the group.
Image source of this article: The official Weibo of the International Ice Hockey Federation