China is moving up after winning the Division 1B U-18 women's World Championships in Poland. They advance to the Division 1A bracket, the second highest in the sport, for 2027.
China was not pegged to be the top team at the Division 1B U-18 World Championships in Katowice, Poland, but that's how it ended. Team China went undefeated at the event to earn promotion to the Division 1A tournament in 2027.
China beat the pre-tournament favorites Poland 4-3 in a shootout and Austria 4-2 in regulation, and walked through the remainder of the field beating Great Britain 4-1, Australia 10-0, and Spain 8-0.
Australia ended the tournament on the other side of the scale being relegated to Division 2A after going 0-5-0-0 in the event and being outscored 41-3. It comes on the heels of Australia choosing to defund the top women's league in the nation this year.
China will be eligible to return roughly half their roster for the 2027 tournament including leading scorer Luoyi Zhang, a 2010 born player who notched six goals and 12 points in five games at the tournament.
The Division 1A World Championships in Italy, to see who will be relegated to replace China begins today. China's promotion means they'll face teams like Germany, Japan, Italy, Norway, France, and Denmark who are all in the D1A tournament currently, and potentially nations like Slovakia, Finland, or Hungary who will look to avoid relegation from the top tournament.