Junior ice hockey athletes are preparing for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. (Photo : Getty Images)
Players of the Tiger Ice Hockey Team from China and Ice Lion from South Korea are competing to be the best in the international youth ice hockey tournament in Beijing. The players are mostly 8-year-old children.
The international tournament is the largest in Asia. It is attended by 1,000 children who will compete in 300 games.
The China team’s coach is Zang Dongdong, a former national ice hockey player. He retired at age 23.
"I love ice hockey very much. I see the team spirit and cohesiveness from it. The teammates are united as one and concentrating the efforts on every game. I really enjoy that feeling,” he said.
Zhang admitted that ice hockey is not a popular sport in China but is gaining attraction from children and parents.
He said, "In the past, ice hockey was mostly popular in northeast China. Big cities in the three provinces in the northeast China might also have their own ice hockey team. Later, it gradually shifted towards the southern areas. Kids in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen also started to play ice hockey."
Zhang Tianyu, one of the players of the Tiger Ice Team, said that ice hockey made him stronger and makes him enjoy the game with his teammates.
Coach Zhang expressed excitement for the 2022 Winter Olympics and said that the President's support for sports help them develop the athletes' abilities at a young age.
"I believe with the approach of 2022, more and more ice stadiums will be built in big cities and more and more kids will join the sport. It is not only because of supportive policies but also the attraction of the sport itself, it draws people to play it and enjoy it. I believe development will get better and better," he said.
