China Lays Crushing Blow To National Team, Banning Dual Passport Players

China will not allow the dual passport players who lifted them to promotion to play in the IIHF World Championships this April in Utica, New York.

China's ascension to the top division of the World Championships has been one for the ages. Two years ago they earned promotion from Division 1B, then last year they earned promotion from Division 1A. The double bounce is one rarely experienced in international hockey.

To make it there, the nation relied heavily on dual passport players like Leah Lum, Hannah Miller, Rachel Llanes, Anna Segedi, Kasundra Betinol, Camryn Wong, Anna Fairman, Madison Woo, and Tia Chan.

When the puck drops on the 2024 World Championships in Utica, New York, with the best players in the world competing, China will be without all of these players who pushed the program to the top, as China has banned dual passport players from competing.

China had brought in these players in preparation for the 2022 Beijing Olympics to ensure they were competitive, but will now revert to a roster that prior to 2022, was unable to qualify for the Olympics, and found themselves in the third tier of the World Championships, Division 1B. Without the dual passport players, China was unable to earn promotion from that division.

With their dual passport players, including rising NCAA stars like Segedi, Wong, and Chan, China's future in international competition looked bright. The nation had made sizeable gains through their competition in the CWHL, and even over the last season bringing international players overseas to compete in the Chinese Women's League.

Despite the improvement in their domestically trained players through these programs, this year, the decision to remove these players from their roster will certainly put China at risk for relegation.

They will play in Group B alongside Sweden, Japan, Germany, and Denmark. Denmark came up alongside China, while Hungary and France were relegated. With their dual passport-less roster, it will take an upset over Germany, Japan, or Sweden to stay in the top division, but it will be a difficult task for a team who removed 80% of their top two lines and their starting goaltender from the mix.

In hopes of acclimatizing to the ice and environment early, China arrived in Utica, New York this week to begin their preparations for the 2024 World Championships weeks prior to any other nation. 

Whether it was the Chinese hockey federation, or government who pulled the plug on dual passport players, it's a crushing blow to the national program that had leap frogged more than a dozen programs into the top division this year. From a favorite to stay in the top group, China is now, alongside Denmark, a favorite to again fall to the Division 1A tournament.