Beijing, China, November 7, 2024: Japan installed themselves as gold medal favourites at the Harbin Asian Winter Games next February by winning the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's Asia Championship at the Shougang Ice Hockey Arena in Beijing on Sunday, November 3.
Team Japan was dominant from start to finish at the first ever Asian women's championship, which ran from October 31 to November 3, reports The Hockey News.
Japan went undefeated in the tournament, without allowing a goal, beating Korea, Kazakhstan and China by a combined score of 25-0. Japan sealed gold by beating China 5-0 in the last game on November 3.
At the top of the scoring chart it was all Japan, paced by Rui Ukita, who topped all scorers with four goals and eight points in three games. She was followed by teammates Rio Noro and Kohane Sato who each had seven points.
Shiori Yamashita was selected the tournament's top defender, while Ukita was named best forward. Wang Yuqing of China was named the top goaltender.
The players named best from each nation were Ukita of Japan, China's Yu Baiwei, Korea's Park Jongah and Kazakhstan's Anna Chshyokolova.
Kazakhstan edged out Korea 5-4 in a penalty shootout to take third place.
The tournament, which included China, Japan, South Korea and Kazakhstan, took place in a round-robin format over three days. The next edition will be hosted by Kazakhstan in 2025.
The 9th Asian Winter Games will be held in Harbin, China from February 7-14, 2025. There will be eight teams in the women’s ice hockey competition.