On February 12, Beijing time, the third round of the men's ice hockey qualifiers for the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics ended in Cardiff, England. The Chinese men's ice hockey did not send the strongest lineup, and although the performance was better than the other, it still missed the next round with a record of 1 win and 2 losses, and bid farewell to the Milan Winter Olympics in advance.
There are 12 quota places for men's ice hockey at the Winter Olympics, with nine teams directly qualified according to the world rankings, with the remaining three places being determined through four qualifying rounds. The Chinese team is now ranked 26th in the world due to the improvement of the World Championships in recent years, and directly enters the third round, which is also the highest round reached by the team after the change of the men's ice hockey and qualifying format at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In this round of qualifiers, Group H, China's opponents are the host United Kingdom, which has just returned to the top group of the World Championships, Romania in Group A, and Serbia, which is also in Group B. In the first round of competition, facing the strong British team, the Chinese team was suppressed all over the field, and only scored one goal in the "garbage time" at the end of the game, losing 1-10.
In the second game, the Chinese team showed tenacity, and the Romanian team exchanged offense and defense in the first two quarters. At 5 minutes and 37 seconds in the first quarter, Wang Jing took the lead to help the team take the lead. At the end of the second quarter, Romania scored two goals in a row to overtake the score. Unfortunately, the opponent continued to push in the final quarter, scoring four goals. The Chinese team suffered two consecutive defeats of 1-6 and missed the fourth round of the qualifiers in advance, and theoretically missed the Milan Winter Olympics.
In the last round of the game, facing the Serbian team, the rival of the same group of the World Championships, the Chinese team, which had already been out, was not discouraged, and achieved a comeback in the first quarter after falling behind 0-2 at one point, leading 3-2. In the second quarter, the opponent scored two more goals. The Chinese team, which was once again behind, rebounded in the final quarter, equalized the score in less than a minute of the opening game, and then scored two more goals to open up the difference. Although Serbia pulled one back with the remainder of the game and pulled down their goalkeeper in the last minute to give it a go, they were unable to salvage the defeat. Instead, the Chinese team seized the opportunity to score another point and ended the qualifiers 7-5.
It is worth mentioning that the lineup of the Chinese team participating in the qualifiers this time is very different from that of the Beijing Winter Olympics, with only five Winter Olympic players playing again. Due to the fact that most leagues are in the season and due to formalities, naturalized players from the previous Winter Olympic cycle and the vast majority of overseas players have not participated in the team this time. Next, the Chinese men's ice hockey team will also make every effort to prepare for the World Championships that will start at the end of April and the Asian Winter Games to be held on home soil next year. After the game, Chen Zimeng, a young man from Beijing who served as the captain this time, posted on social platforms: "Face up to the gap and continue to work hard." Come on, Chinese ice hockey! ”
This article *** Chen Zimeng's personal social platform.