China moved toward promotion, Slovakia toward relegation, and the Netherlands continued to surprise on day three of the IIHF D1A women's World Championships.
Host China, who was promoted from Division 1B this year, look poised for the double bounce up as they are now the only undefeated team and sit atop the Division 1A standings with three of five games in the books.
China agreed to host the next two Division 1A championships as well...if they weren't promoted, meaning the Division 1A tournament may also be looking for a new host for 2024.
Conversely, fans across the globe were hoping for a chance to see Nela Lopusanova make her senior national World Championship debut in Utica, New York this winter for Slovakia, but following their third consecutive loss to open the tournament, Slovakia now finds themselves on the precipice of demotion to Division 1B. Should they head down, it would take until at least 2026 for the Slovaks to make the top bracket.
China Moves Closer To Promotion
Playing in front of large home crowds, China has managed to open their tournament with a 3-0 record beating Slovakia, Norway, and Denmark. With a win against either Netherlands or Austria, China can guarantee their move up to the top tier of the World Championships next spring in Utica, New York.
Facing Denmark, the most recently demoted team from the top tier, China jumped out to an early lead and never looked back taking a 4-2 win.
In the opening period Yingying Guan scored first for China, a lead which midway through the frame was extended by 17-year-old Jiaxin Wang. Late in the period, Xifang Zhang (Anna Segedi) who plays NCAA hockey for St. Lawrence grabbed a puck in her own zone and led an end-to-end attack culminating in a goal putting China ahead 3-0 after one.
Denmark would get a pair of goals from captain Nicoline Jensen, but it would not be enough as China's Xin Fang added an insurance marker maintaining China's lead.
Slovakia Headed Down?
Slovakia put themselves in a dire situation heading into their final two games after losing their third consecutive game, this time 4-2 to Norway.
Norway's Thea Jorgensen who plays NCAA hockey for Lindenwood opened the scoring with under a minute to go in the first period. Simone Martina Bednarik responded in the second scoring Slovakia's first goal of the tournament, followed by a tally from Tatiana Korenkova giving Slovakia the lead.
In the third period however, Norway scored twice in under 30 seconds and again in the final minute to complete the 4-2 win. Norway's Andrea Dalen had three assists in the win, which was Norway's first of the tournament.
Netherlands Continues To Surprise
Headed into this tournament, the Netherlands were the team most thought would be demoted. Winning two of their first three games, including a 2-1 upset over Austria has taken them temporarily out of that conversation.
Savine Wielenga and Bieke van Nes scored for Netherlands while Eline Gabriele stopped 26 shots in the win.