Japan and China opened their inaugural IIHF Women's Asia Championships this week in Beijing with wins.
Japan and China opened their inaugural IIHF Women's Asia Championships this week in Beijing with wins.
Japan and China, the two top ranked nations competing in the Inaugural IIHF Women's Asia Championships this week both opened their tournaments with wins.
China defeated Kazakhstan 5-0 to open their tournament with goals scored by Mengying Zhang, Yue Qu, Biying Zhang, and a pair from Xin Fang,
"It was a good start for our team. Young players made goals and assists in this high level event to gain experience and confidence," China's captain Baiwei Yu told China Daily. "We are looking forward to competing with Japan and other great teams, which can help us tap our potential. The whole team will fight to the end."
Japan opened their tournament with a dominant 12-0 win over Korea. Rui Ukita had two goals and three assists, while Aoi Shiga and Kanami Seki had two goals and an assist each to lead Team Japan. While the Japanese team remains the favorite, they are playing without some of the nation's top players in Akane Shiga and Haruka Toko who remain in Sweden.
The four team tournament continues November 2.