Ice hockey remains a niche sport at the elite level in China despite public enthusiasm for Beijing's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, but increasing youth participation bodes well for the future, according to insiders.

 

However, they say progress is unlikely to be fast. Hopes that the Chinese women's team will take part in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics have suffered a blow as the team finished third at the World Championship Division I Group B tournament in Beijing last month.

 

This meant the women failed to win promotion to the higher-level Group A, and this will make it harder for them to qualify for the 2018 Winter Games.

 

The dearth of up-and-coming talent was shown by the fact that veteran Sun Rui was recalled as captain after a two-year retirement to take part in the competition, staged by the International Ice Hockey Federation.
 

Four of Sun's national teammates from the early 2000s who had also retired were persuaded to come back for the tournament due to the lack of current talent.

 

The current situation is a far cry from the success that ice hockey enjoyed in the 1990s, when more than 10 provincial sides from Northwest and Northeast China competed against each other regularly. The teams were fully funded by local sports bureaus.

 

The surge culminated at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, where the women's national side finished fourth, a level of achievement rarely accomplished by China in team events at the Olympics. 

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment