Sun Rui could not stop her tears from dropping off her face. The
simple numbers of "2-4" on the screen board meant not only a second
loss to Japan following their sorrow four years ago but also a big
blow to the Chinese women ice hockey players.
China's women team, ranked atop in Asia and seventh in the
world, came to the 6th Asian Winter Games on home soil, hoping
nothing but the gold medal of the five-team tournament. However,
they were stunned by straight losses to both Japan and Kazakhstan
for another third-place finish just as they did in the last edition
in Aomori, Japan in 2003.
The 24-year-old Sun was so upset that she could say nothing but
"sorry". She just cannot digest the huge fall from the fourth in
the Nagano Olympics in 1998 to the third in Asiad nine years
later.
"Ten years ago, we were unbeatable in Asia and we won by at
least 10 goals in every match against Japan and the other teams,"
said Gong Xiqing, manager of the Chinese team. "But now..."
The fourth place in the 1998 Winter Olympics was not the highest
ranking that the Chinese women have achieved, but was their last
piece of sweet memory.
"We had a golden time from the late 80s to the early 90s, when
there were almost 10 teams in both Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces," said Gong. "And our national
team always made the top three in the international tournaments
around 1995, including the World Championships."
However, hard time started even before the 1998 Olympic
Games.
"To run an ice hockey team really costs much," said manager
Gong. "3 to?4 million yuan (about US$500,000) a year is too
much for a provincial team."
And women's ice hockey even doesn't make the National Games'
agenda, another key reason for the shrinking of the sport. Jilin
Province, where the 6th Winter Asiad is being staged, canceled the
sport in 1997 to leave only one team since then throughout the most
populous country with a population of 1.3 billion.
"Harbin women's ice hockey is the only team we have now, and the
members of the national squad are all from them," said Gong. "The
other teams were very surprised that we could make the fourth in
the 1998 Olympic Games."
After they finished fifth in the 1999 World Championships and
sixth in both the 2000 and 2001 worlds, they dropped again to
seventh in the Salt Lake City Games the following year. Two years
later, the Chinese women suffered the "Black Seven Seconds" in a
qualification match against Switzerland and failed to feature in
the Olympics for the first time in 2006, triggering off a fear that
the Harbin team, the only formal team in the country would be
disbanded.
"That's really hard for China's women ice hockey," said Lan Li,
a winter sports official, after the loss in August, 2004. "Losing
the chance to compete in the Olympics will have huge affect upon
the girls."
According to statistics, there are around 100 women playing ice
hockey in China, including a large portion of amateurs who can
hardly skate fluently and freely at will.
"We don't even have any opponents to play against," said Zou
Dong, assistant team manager. "We have to seek the help of the
men's team sometimes."
"The players of the national team, still strong in the world,
receive a humble monthly salary of 300 to at most 800 yuan (about
US$40 to 110)," he added.
Fortunately, the sport is still surviving through the hardship.
The national team started to invite coaches from abroad since 2003
and Jorma Siitarien of Finland has taken the helm to lead the young
Chinese team to Vancouver for training.
"We formed a new team to prepare for the Winter Asiad and the
Olympics," said Zou. "Half of the members are teenagers with the
youngest at 17 years old."
Heading to the Winter Asiad with the goal of taking back the
title, the young Chinese players suffered their stunning moment
here. However, Siitarien and his protegees still cherish the hope
for the future.
"They are young and have great potential," said Siitarien, with
the sight upon the coming World Championships in Canada in April,
although the full promotion of the sport nationwide remains a heavy
task.
"There are 5,000 to 6,000 women ice hockey players in Canada,
and even in Japan, there are dozens of clubs," said Gong. "We have
to attract more kids to the sport, the only way for us to ever dare
to dream of a real boom."
"Harbin has made great contribution to the women's team, and we
are looking for sponsors also," he added.
According to Gong, rinks have been built in developed cities and
provinces, such as Shanghai and Guangdong, most of which located in south
China. However, they still need good coaches.
"We are expecting the earlier coming of the day that ice hockey
becomes popular throughout the whole country, at least in all the
three northern provinces, the cradle of the winter sports in
China," said Gong.
(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2007)