Shenzhen, Guangdong is hosting the 2023 Women's Ice Hockey World Championship Division A match, and the atmosphere is in full swing. In the most recent match, the Chinese women's ice hockey team defeated Austria 2-0. With four straight wins and 12 points, the Chinese women's team leads the standings, winning the title one round ahead of schedule and qualifying for next year's World Championships in the top category. This made the Chinese women's team athletes cry with joy, and also caused heated discussions from the outside world. CCTV and People's Daily also published articles praising the achievement.
According to relevant information, the Women's Ice Hockey World Championship is held once a year. Due to various reasons such as development, there is a large gap in the strength of women's ice hockey teams in various regions. In order to cope with this situation, the World Championships are divided into seven categories: Top Class, Division A Group A, and Division A Group B. Ice hockey is a winter sport that started relatively late in China. However, in the 90s of the last century, the Chinese women's ice hockey team also achieved good results. They have reached the semi-finals at the World Championships and the Winter Olympics. However, due to a lack of talent pool, the Chinese women's ice hockey team was relegated to the top group in 2009.
This was followed by relegation from Group A to Group B in 2010. During the Beijing Winter Olympics cycle, the Chinese women's ice hockey team qualified automatically because it was the host. This has also made the development of women's ice hockey in China valued. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese women's ice hockey team ended the competition with two wins and two losses. Despite failing to reach the quarter-finals, the quality the team has shown is a source of hope. In last year's World Championships Division A Group B competition, the Chinese women's ice hockey team won the championship with five consecutive wins and qualified for this year's First Division A group A competition.
This year's World Championship Group A competition was held in Shenzhen, and the teams participating were strong, including the world's best teams such as Denmark and Austria. The Chinese women's team narrowly beat Slovakia 1-0 in the first round, and then in the second round against Norway, they came back 5-3 after trailing by two goals. China then won 4-2 against Denmark, the highest ranked team in the group. After the first three rounds of competition, the Chinese team topped the standings with three consecutive wins. The prospects for the Chinese team to qualify are very clear, and it only needs to win one more game to qualify for next year's World Championship top group competition one round earlier. It's a very exciting situation, and the performance of the Chinese team makes people look forward to their future.
Facing the challenge of the Austrian team, the Chinese team showed a stable performance. Although the scene was passive for a while, they excelled on the defensive end. After a long period of attack and defense, holes appeared in the Austrian defense. At 34:03 of the game, the Chinese team seized the opportunity to play more and less, and vice captain Lin Qiqi scored to change the score to 1-0 to take the lead. Austria made another mistake in the last 8 seconds before the end of the game, giving China a chance. China's Wang Yuting scored again. In the end, the Chinese women's ice hockey team defeated Austria 2-0 to qualify for next year's top group competition one round earlier. It was an exhilarating victory and the Chinese team showed tenacity and strength to add more expectations for their future.
After 14 years of waiting, the Chinese women's team finally realized their dream! In the final round, China will face the Netherlands. It is possible for China to win all of them again and claim the title.