Japan's men ice hockey team defended their title while
Kazakhstan retained the women's gold in the Winter Asiad at the 6th
edition in Changchun, Northeast China on Saturday.
"I had told my players that our target here was nothing but to
win the gold medal before we came here," said Toshiyuki Sakai,
coach of Japan.
Japan came from behind to beat China 3-1 on Saturday and kept
unbeaten in all five matches in the tournament.
"I was really satisfied with our performance in the match
against Kazakhstan," said Sakai. "That was the key victory."
Japan edged out the Kazaks 3-2 thanks to a goal with less than
nine minutes to go on Thursday.
Kazakhstan won over South Korea 8-1 to lock the second position,
followed by South Korea and China.
However, Japan's women missed the chance to triumph in the Asiad
for the first time by losing to Kazakhstan 1-2 in their final match
on Saturday.
"It was a pity that we produced several chances in the third
period but failed to score," said Kohichi Satoh, head coach of
Japan's women team.
The Kazaks, the reigning champion and the second-ranked in Asia,
took an early lead by two goals in the first period and resisted
fierce attacks from Japan in the third period to secure the
title.
"The Japanese team has been stronger than we met last time,"
said Sergey Solovyev, Kazaks' head coach, referring to the clash in
last October when the Kazaks suffered a loss. "I would say that we
won by luck today."
The Asian-topped China beat DPR Korea 6-3, taking an
disappointing bronze medal.
The 6th Asian Winter Games is to be concluded on Sunday.
(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2007)