The top group of the 2024 World Women's Ice Hockey World Championship is being played in New York, USA. On April 8, local time, the Chinese team in Group B lost 0-3 to the strong German team in the last game of the group stage, and then the Japanese team defeated the Danish team. In this way, the bottom two teams in the group, China and Denmark, were relegated to Group A.
China's women's ice hockey team is currently ranked 14th in the world. Last year, the Chinese women's ice hockey team won the World Championships Group A with a winning record, returning to the top group after 15 years. In this World Championships, the goal of the Chinese team is to strive for the success of the group.
There are 10 teams in the top group of the Women's Ice World Championships, with China in Group B with Sweden, Japan, Germany and Denmark. According to the rules, the bottom two of Group B were relegated.
In the first game, the Chinese team defeated the Japanese team 3-2 through a penalty shootout and got off to a good start.
In the second game, the Chinese team lost 1-8 to the Swedish team. The third game against Denmark was a key battle for the Chinese team to retain its place in the top group, and the Chinese team lost in the penalty shootout.
In the fourth game, the Chinese team lost 0-3 to Germany. With this victory, Germany won four consecutive games and secured top spot in the group. The Germans showed a strong offensive throughout the game, with a total of 44 shots on goal, compared to China's nine.
Japan, on the other hand, defeated Denmark 3-0 in their last game to secure relegation in third place.
At the end of the group stage of the top group, Germany, Sweden and Japan finished in the top three of Group B and advanced to the knockout stage. China is fourth with 3 points from 1 win and 3 losses, while Denmark is fifth, and these two teams are relegated.
Yu Baiwei, captain of the Chinese team, said of the future of China's women's ice hockey: "We can do better, we just need more time and patience. ”
It is worth mentioning that in the top group of the World Championships, the players of the Chinese women's ice hockey team are all local players, and the old, middle and young players are combined.
In the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and last year's World Championships Group A, the Chinese team has 13 naturalized athletes participating, who have made great contributions to the Chinese team's achievements in the Winter Olympics and the successful promotion to the top group of the World Championships.
These 13 people are Miller, Fei Anna, Zhou Jiaying, Wang Yuting, Lin Ni, Lin Qiqi, Hu Baozhen, Rebecca, Zhang Xifang, Kang Mulan, Lin Jiaxin, Huang Huier, and Chen Tiya. Among them, Miller and Rebecca are not of Chinese descent.
Some professionals speculate that the Chinese ice hockey team's abandonment of these naturalized players to compete in the top group is likely to be related to the fall of Cao Weidong, the former chairman of the Chinese Ice Hockey Association.
(Michau Sports)